Lily's Lover
by His Lil' Half-Blood Princess
Summary: Lily's husband is dead. Her son has been kidnapped by Lord Voldemort. And her best friend is determined to fix the shattered life she now has. But does he know something she doesn't? Sequel to Lily's Prisoner. Prequel to Lily's Battle COMPLETE!
1. The Sacrifice Reprise

_**WELCOME! Here is the first chapter of Lily's Lover! It's basically the same thing as the last chapter of Lily's Prisoner (actually, it IS the same thing) so I'm going to post the second chapter today as well, to be fair. :)**_

_**So, are you guys ready? If you wanna skip this chapter, feel free. If you're a new reader and haven't read Lily's Prisoner, I suggest you do that. Chances are, you'll get confused. **_

_**Disclaimer (This applies to the entire story): I do not own HP. It belongs to JKR and WB (though, if I had some cha-ching, I'd buy Snape and McGonagall.)**_

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_ It was about a quarter to twelve on Halloween night. Many things were happening._

_ The last of the trick-or-treaters were retreating to their own homes with their loot and dirty costumes, excitedly deciding which of their sweets to have first and where to hide the stash from their siblings._

_ A few of the shops were closing for the night. The shop owners were switching off lights and locking doors and flipping the sign on the door from "OPEN" to "Sorry, we're CLOSED"._

_ Bands of teenagers were coming home, by foot or by car, for it was nearing their curfew. Those who's curfews were later said good night and ventured back into the dark._

_ Lily Potter was in her room, writing something on a piece of parchment. She had been up their for hours, writing and reading, not aware of the time._

_ When she finally did look at the clock, she gasped. It was nearing midnight! She folded her parchment and walked out of her room._

_ She neared the sitting room when she stopped in the doorway. She couldn't help but smile as James played with little Harry. James was sitting on the sofa making the puffs of colored smoke coming out of his wand. Harry clapped and giggled and bounced up and down. He loved this game._

_ She wanted to let them play there, but she knew it was too late for Harry to be up. "Honey, it's late. I ought to take Harry up to bed."_

_ "OK," said James, putting his wand on the table. "You going to bed too?" _

_ "Probably," she said._

_ "All right then. No more puff for you tonight, little guy." He lifted up his son and gave him a kiss. "Say good night to Daddy."_

_ "Ni' Dada," he said, still giggling._

_ "Good night," James handed him over to Lily, whom he kissed and whispered "Good night" in her ear. She gave the same reply and then walked away with Harry. Harry turned around and waved as he was carried out of the room._

_ James gave a laugh and sat down on the couch. He was considering giving the Muggle TV another chance._

_ He didn't hear the gate slowly creak open._

_ All was still._

_**Bang! **__The door burst open with sparks of red coming from it. James leapt up, his wand still on the table. He stared._

_ Two dark figures stood before him, one taller than the other. They started coming into the light and James gasped._

_ There, before him, stood Voldemort. Beside him, the shorter figure, was Severus Snape._

_ "LILY!" James shouted. "TAKE HARRY AND GO! IT'S HIM! LILY, GO, RUN! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!"_

_ "Hold me off, Potter?" whispered Voldemort. "Without your wand? See, Severus, this is general stupidity."_

_ "Severus," James begged. "Severus, you have to help us. Think of Lily, Severus, think of her!"_

_ Snape looked into his eyes. I'm sorry, I can't save you, I can't do anything for you anymore, I want to, but I can't. Hoping the message was received, he looked back at Voldemort._

_ "After all you did to him, you think he'll help you?" said Voldemort. He began to cackle. There was a flash of purple light. James screamed and fell to the floor, right in front of Severus. There was a scream of terror from upstairs. Voldemort began to search for James's wand. Why did you come? You came to save Lily! SAVE HER! So Severus Snape dashed up the stairs to find Lily._

_ There was another scream, coming from the nursery. Snape ran to the door and jammed it open. Lily gave a scream, then saw who it was. Tears streamed down her face. Snape looked around the room. Lily had been preparing to put the rocking chair, the play pen, and the night table against the door. Harry was in her arms. He pushed the door closed behind him, waiting for her to do something. She didn't move._

_ "Lily, the Dark Lord is downstairs looking for your husband's wand! He's going to get up here and kill you in two minutes!"_

_ "So you just let James die?" she whispered finally, crying more. She nearly fell over when Snape caught her and made her look up at him._

_ "Lily, I couldn't do anything to save him, I'm sorry, I had no alternative. I came here to save you! Not James, you! Lily, we have to get out of here! I can get both you and your son out!" She turned away. "Lily, this isn't the time to have a quarrel, you have to come with me! Get your son and let's go!"_

_ "Severus, it's too late now. He's killed my husband and now he's coming to kill my son."_

_ "Lily, he's going to kill YOU! We have to go NOW!" Slow footsteps were heard. She put her baby in the crib. "Lily, what are you doing, he's coming up the stairs!"_

_ "Let him kill me. If Harry's alive, I'm fine."_

_ "NO! Lily . . . I can't let you DIE! I'd die for you! Lily, I love you!"_

_ There was an awkward pause._

_ "By saying that, are you explaining why you let James die?"_

_ "Lily Evans, I am going to make it perfectly clear to you what I meant by saying that."_

_ And he grabbed her and kissed her._

_ If that was the last thing he did, he was content._

_ He had been hoping all his life to do that._

_ When they broke apart, Snape heard the door creak open. He turned around, his arms stretched out in front of Lily. She was right in front of the crib. Voldemort slipped into the room._

_ "Well, well, well," he whispered. "Look what we have here. My, my, her husband died not five minutes ago and she has already found a new." He chuckled. "It looks like Severus is in love with the victim, is he not?"_

_ Severus said nothing._

_ "I'll take that as a yes." Voldemort said. "But, unfortunately, we do not have room for that in this society. Move away from the girl, Severus."_

_ "No," said Snape. "You told me you wouldn't hurt her."_

_ "And I may not if she does what she is told. Move away from the crib, Severus."_

_ "You're going to tell her to let you kill her son. She's not going to listen and neither am I." Lily gave a gasp._

_ "Severus," said Voldemort in a more warning tone. "You told me you wanted her to be protected and I will let her live. But I cannot do that unless you move out of the way."_

_ "No." _

_ "This is your last chance. Move away from the crib!"_

_ "Never."_

_ Voldemort tutted. "You are going to regret that in a matter of seconds, Severus." Voldemort slowly began to take his wand out. "If you happen to survive this little party, which I doubt, I will call for you again and expect you to answer. We can discuss this little incident and decide on things . . . like punishment." He pointed his wand directly at Severus._

_ "NO!" Lily shouted, but both men ignored her. Snape stared at Voldemort, ready for death, thinking it may be coming. But . . . how?_

_ Slowly, Voldemort spoke. "Sectumsempra-"_

_ "Oh God," Severus whispered to himself._

_ "-Maximus!"_

_ Snape collapsed to the ground, right at Lily's feet. Lily stared at him, wondering if he was dead. Why had he fallen? That wasn't the killing curse. Then she saw it. Blood was gushing out of his body. There were gashes on his arms and legs and stomach. Blood was flowing heavily from his wounded body. She knelt down beside him. "Don't worry, Severus, just hang on, please, hang on. We're going to get out of here, alive." She whispered this into his ear. He didn't speak or move at all. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He seemed to be gasping for breath._

_ "Well, now see here!" said Voldemort. "The body of your husband on your living room floor and the blood of your lover on your nursery carpet!" He laughed. "They've become such a part of your home."_

_ Lily stood up and moved in front of the crib again._

_ "Now, all I want you to do is move away from the crib and you won't get hurt," said Voldemort._

_ "No," she said."You can't have him."_

_ "Step aside, silly girl. I won't do anything to you and who knows, perhaps I'll save his life-" He gestured at Severus. "-before I go. Only he and I know the counter-curse and he's obviously to weak to tell you."_

_ "No! You've already killed my husband! You won't have my son!"_

_ Voldemort looked angry, then thoughtful. He smiled. "Very well," he said gently. "I won't kill your son. Or you. One . . . soon two sacrifices is good for one night." He began to laugh and he pointed his wand at Lily, shouting, "Stupefy!" She was blasted back, banging against the crib, falling near it. The baby started to cry. There was another flash of light and the crying stopped and Voldemort left._

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_ Lily sat up slowly, feeling dizzy. She looked at Severus, who was getting paler by the second, nearly all the blood drained out of him. "Sev?" she whispered. She grasped his cold hand. "Oh no, oh no, please don't be dead, please." She put her head on his chest. Finally, she heard his heart beating rapidly and soft, heavy, uneven breathing. She gave a sigh of relief. "Hold on, Sev, just a little longer, I'm going to call for help. But you have to hold on . . . I know it hurts, but just keep breathing, don't stop breathing . . . that's it." He could still hear her, for he tried to breathe more steadily, but he was too weak to move. She quickly stood up and looked around the room. Voldemort was gone. _

_ Lily turned to look at the crib and screamed._

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_**That was the easiest chapter to write EVER! Honestly, copy, paste, italize! No need for reviews for this one, unless you wanna, I mean, you could copy and paste your review from the last chapter of Lily's Prisoner. I don't have any objections. ;)**_


	2. The Order of the Phoenix

_Hope this is up to scratch. More things, like explanations and Dumbledore getting pissed off happen when Severus wakes up. Oops. Yeah, he does live._

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Harry was gone.

"Harry!" Lily shouted. "Harry, where are you? Oh, HARRY!" She ran to the crib and looked down into it. There was nothing inside, besides his small blue blanket and a teddy bear. She grabbed the blanket and fell to the floor, sobbing into it. "HARRY! HARRY? WHERE ARE YOU? HARRY! HARRY! HARRY! PLEASE, HARRY, COME BACK!" When she heard the silence, she began to weep harder. And harder.

Then she heard a groan. Lily looked up, eyes red and tears still streaming down her cheeks. She looked at her friend lying on the floor. She had lost her husband and, for all she knew, her son. She couldn't let her friend go and die because she was crying. She needed to do something. She breathed deeply and regained her composure. Taking her son's blanket, she crawled over to Severus. He was still bleeding heavily. "Oh Severus," she whispered, kissing his forehead. "I'm sorry I let that happen. You're so stupid. Doing that. If you survive this, he'll kill you." She put her head to his chest. It was comforting to hear him breathing and to hear his heart beating. She whimpered. He groaned. She sat up and noticed that there was a gash on his chest, near where her head had just been resting. "Oh. Sorry." She stood up, dropping the blanket back into the crib. "I'm going to go get help." She quickly left the room and dashed down the stairs. She went into the sitting room. She froze.

There it was. James's dead body. She felt her eyes swell up with tears again. Her husband. Gone. She sighed a shaky sigh. There was no time for stalling. Quickly, she grabbed some Floo Powder that they had on the mantle piece and threw it into the flames, screaming, "DUMBLEDORE'S OFFICE!" The light glowed green and suddenly, she saw Dumbledore's head in the fire. He was smiling, but his expression changed when he saw hers.

"Lily?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Professor Dumbledore!" she gasped. "You have to help me! Please! He . . . Voldemort- he came! He k-k-killed James! James is dead! And he went to kill me, but Severus was with him and he . . . he stopped him. And Voldemort hit him with a curse and now he's bleeding to death. And then Voldemort knocked me out and he . . . he took my b-b-baby! He might've killed my baby! Oh, please, Dumbledore hurry, please help me!"

Dumbledore looked utterly shocked. "I . . . I will be sending Order members to Godric's Hallow immediately. Do not leave the house and do not contact anyone else. Help will be there soon."

"Oh, thank you!" she sobbed. She had begun to cry again. Dumbledore nodded and his head left the fire. The green glow disappeared.

Lily stared into the empty fire. She stared into it for a while, but then her head turned to James. She went over to his body. "James," she whispered, tears falling onto her husband's chest. He looked frozen and when she touched his hand, it was stiff. She looked at him curiously. His eyes were opened, that was common with the Killing Curse. When she tried to shut his eyelids, they didn't budge. _That's odd, _she thought. _The body's are usually all limp. _But who knew, maybe Voldemort's Killing Curse had been ultra powerful. She sighed and stroked his hair, the only soft thing on his body. She touched his cold, hard hand and started to cry. Her head on his chest, she wept over her dead husband. There was a green glow and she cried harder. She was imagining the green flash that must've happened when he was killed.

"Lily!" came Minerva McGonagall's voice. Lily sat up to see that the green light had been the fire glowing. Inside her sitting room were Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Rebeus Hagrid, and Poppy Pomfrey. Lily stood up and she and McGonagall hugged, Lily's head on Minerva's shoulder.

"Minerva," she said softly.

They broke apart. "Oh, Lily, we're just so . . so shocked. We had no idea . . ." Minerva trailed off and she looked at Remus, who was staring blankly at James's dead body.

"Sirius told. Sirius ratted on us. James is dead and . . ." He said nothing more, but he slumped down onto the couch and stared into space. Hagrid blew his nose and then offered his handkerchief to a very teary Poppy, who looked at it and shook her head. She sniffled.

"This is all . . . just so tragic. But we need to attend to Severus. We . . . we honestly don't need another death. Um . . . Mrs. P-p-potter, please, would you come upstairs and help me?"

"Of course," said Lily. "We ought to hurry up. He didn't look to well last I saw him. Not more than three minutes ago. I'm sure he's . . . alive, but he's totally unconscious and he's just so cold and pale."

They started hurrying up the stairs, Minerva also with them. She said, "I don't understand. What happened?"

"I really don't want to explain the whole situation right this moment. I'll do it when we're all together. Besides, we need Severus to tell his part as well."

"Indeed," said Poppy. they reached the nursery and Severus's state had not changed. Minerva's eyes went white and she was very pale herself. Meanwhile, Poppy looked absolutely shocked. "Come. I've brought some things we need. Blood Replenishing Potions, bandages, things to help stop the bleeding." Poppy went over to the man on the floor and checked his pulse. She tutted. "One of you, go ask Hagrid to bring the couch upstairs and ask Lupin to bring me a clean white sheet."

"I'll go," said Lily. She went back into the sitting room. "Hagrid," she said. "Madame Pomfrey needs the couch upstairs in the nursery. Would you bring it please?" The silent Hagrid gave a great sniffle and nodded. "Lupin, she needs you to get a white sheet. There are sheets in the closet over there. Bring one please." He nodded and she smiled painfully. "Thank you." And she retreated upstairs.

Minerva was kneeling next to Severus, stroking the raven black hair. Poppy was rummaging through her bag, taking out large vials of potion, pouring certain amounts into goblets and cauldrons and such. Lily went over and knelt beside Severus on the other side.

There was a booming sound and Hagrid arrived in the room, carrying a couch. "Thank you, Hagrid," said Poppy. "Minerva, move those toys over into the corner. Oh, and could you just push the- that's it, yes, perfect. Put the couch down please." Hagrid obliged. Lupin was behind him, holding a folded white sheet. "Remus, put the sheet out over the couch please. Spread it out smooth, just like that. Oh, tuck that corner in. Yes, perfect, thank you. Hagrid, could you please put Severus on the couch. Er . . _gently." _

Hagrid placed Severus softly on the couch. Poppy went over to him and started to put the potion into a goblet. "All right then, now I start giving him the potions. Before I start, Mrs. Potter, please tell me, how on Earth did he get these gashes? They're much too deep to have been made by any ordinary knife . . ."

"Oh, it wasn't a knife," said Lily, staring at her friend. "It was a curse. I bet you everything I own it was Dark Magic."

"What kind of a curse?" came a voice by the door. Mad-Eye Moody was leaning against the door post. Lily nearly jumped.

"Alastor!" exclaimed McGonagall. "When did you arrive?"

"A minute ago," said Moody. "Dumbledore ought to be coming soon. What kind of a curse?"

"It was called _Sectumsempra Maximus."_

Poppy looked confused, Minerva looked stumped. Mad-Eye nodded knowingly. "Ah. Been used on a few people. _Sectumsempra _only though. _Maximus_ don't sound too good either."

"Some sort of latin thing," said Poppy. "I'm guessing it's just a powerful blow of the same spell." She sighed. "Well, we ought to get to work." She started giving Severus the potion, pinching his nose to block out the horrid taste and to help him open his mouth. It was slow and tedious work. "Minerva, start bandaging those gashes please." Minerva took a roll of bandages, some pins and a pair of scissors.

Lily remembered something. "Voldemort-" Half the room flinched. "-Said that only he and Severus knew the counter curse. I wonder why Severus knew it."

"Curious," said Lupin. "Voldemort probably told him."

"WHERE IS HE?" came a loud, hysterical voice form downstairs. It was terribly familiar.

"Oh God," murmured Minerva.

There was something that sounded like thunder and in two seconds, a deranged Sirius Black was in the door frame. Nostril's flared, he charged for Snape. He was pulled back by Hagrid. That didn't stop Sirius's mouth from shouting.

"YOU GOD FORSAKEN PIECE OF SHIT! YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND! JAMES IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU BASTARD! I HOPE YOU BLEED TO DEATH AND GO TO HELL! YOU EFFIN' LIAR! YOU BASTARD, GO TO HELL AND WAIT FOR YOUR BELOVED MASTER TO COME AND JOIN YOU SO YOU CAN SPEND THE REST OF ETERNITY WRITHING IN TORTURE! THAT'S ALL YOU DESERVE, YOU . . . I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE!"

"Sirius!" gasped Minerva.

"Oh my goodness, Mr. Black, you must stop shouting. I have a patient!" snapped Madame Pomfrey.

"I DON'T GIVE!"

"Well, I don't care. You are to remain silent. You always did have such a temper." She sniffed and continued giving Severus the potions.

"ALL OF YOU BLIND ARSE IDIOTS HAVE NO IDEA? HE'S A TRAITOR! I NEVER TRUSTED HIM! HE BETRAYED!"

"What the hell, Sirius!" snapped Lily.

"Oh, Alastor, put a silencing jinx on him. My patient needs silence."

_"Silencio," _Moody muttered and Sirius became silent.

"Wait," said Lupin. "What the hell does he mean, he betrayed? YOU BETRAYED!"

"OH, crap!" snapped Madame Pomfrey. "Do I have to put Silencing Charms on all of you?"

"Remus, please, just calm down!" said Minerva.

"I CAN'T! I WANT AN EXPLANATION! NOW! HOW'S HE DEAD? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

"Remus, I think that is the exact question running through everyone's minds right now. And I think we ought to straighten this ought now." They all turned to look at the door. Dumbledore had arrived. "Alastor, take the charm off Mr. Black please." Mad-Eye growled and then obliged. Sirius began to swear loudly and Dumbledore placed the Charm on him again. "Sirius, I believe we can sort this out without the use of extra lung power. We all have explaining to do. I am going to take the charm off of you and if another shout or foul word, then I will quickly send you to the Ministry and have you put on trial for working with Lord Voldemort. Now, can you control yourself?" There was a grimace and then Sirius nodded. "Excellent." Dumbledore took the charm off him and Sirius said nothing. "Hagrid, release Sirius.

"Now, I think this an excellent time to start an explanation ceremony as we should call it. Unfortunately, Godric's Hallow is now one of the most unsafe places we can be in at the moment. Mrs. Potter, if you could hastily pack some clothes and a few things so we can go to Hogwarts. Minerva, go help her. Poppy, start packing up, please, and hurry. I'm sure Severus will be fine without taking a potion for a few minutes. Remus, Hagrid, Sirius get a sheet to wrap Mr. Potter's body in and make sure it is ready to take to Hogwarts. Alastor, check the house, make sure there is no evidence of our doings. I hope to leave for Hogwarts in five minutes. That would mean no fighting." The entire group went out on their tasks.

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"Hagrid, move James over there, where the couch was," said Remus. Hagrid picked up James and wailed.

"What is it?" asked Sirius dully.

"'e's . . .e's . . . e's just so . . . c-c-cold an' stiff! Gone!"

"Hagrid . . . we know, we all miss him, but we . . . have to work. Come on now, put him down." Hagrid nodded at Remus and fell back into his silence. He put James down.

Sirius and Remus together put out the large white sheet. "OK, Hagrid, place him in the center. We'll be able to wrap it then." Hagrid picked him up and put him down. Remus took one side of the sheet, Sirius the other. When they pulled the sheet to the middle, they found themselves staring at each other. And soon they were in an embrace, both trying not to cry over their friend. When they parted, Sirius whispered, "Oh, Remus, I would have never . . . I never would have betrayed. My best friend . . . no, Remus. He meant so much to me."

"I . . . I know. I'm sorry I said that. We're all just so confused and-" He sighed. "Come on, we can talk more at Hogwarts. Let's finish this." So the two men finished wrapping their best friend- their dead best friend.

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"Do you want to take this, Lily?" asked Minerva. Lily looked away from her purse that she was packing. Minerva was holding up a nice green blouse.

"Um . . . sure. It's nice." She took it from Minerva and put it into her purse. Lily had just come back from rummaging through the house for things she needed to take. She had taken Harry's favorite toys, his blanket, all the photo albums, one of James's ties she found on the floor and some toiletries. When she had returned to her room, she found Minerva going through her closet and putting things on the bed. They were nearly done packing all the clothes and all the jewelry Lily wanted to take, shrinking everything done to a small size so she could fit as much as she pleased in her purse. Lily sighed and shut the purse. "I guess that's it." She looked around her room. "Oh God, this is too much."

"I know, it must be. This is happening much too fast. But we have to make do." Minerva sighed and looked through her closet once more. "Are you sure you don't want that lovely turtleneck?"

"No," said Lily. "I never wear it."

"All right then," said Minerva. She was about to shut the closet when she gasped.

"Minerva?" asked Lily. "Minerva, what is it?"

"Oh my goodness-" She reached into the back of the closet and pulled out a fluffy white ball gown. Lily stared in awe.

"My . . . my wedding dress . . ." She took it from Minerva and looked it over. "Oh God, I forgot it was back there . . ." She trailed off and began to cry. She fell to the floor and Minerva knelt down and held her close.

"Hush, hush, I know this is hard. You are doing so well, Lily, and we are going to get through this. Severus is going to get better, we are going to find out where Harry is, we'll kill Voldemort, we'll lock up his followers, and we'll resolve everything."

"But can you bring James back?" she sobbed. "No one can! He's dead! He's gone!"

Minerva cradled her until Lily broke the embrace. She wiped her eyes. "W-w-we . . . this isn't the time. I'm going to take the dress. We need to get to Hogwarts." She shrunk the dress and threw it into her purse. "Come on, let's go." She looked around once more and then she left.

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_I've already started the third chapter, hope to have it perfected and posted soon._


	3. Saving Severus

_I loved reading the comments that I received for the last chapter of Lily's Prisoner and the ones for this story. They are FABULOUS! I am sooo happy!_

_So, we all have our silly little assumptions about this story, some are correct, but the majority are incorrect which makes me smile. I'm glad you are all confused!_

_Dedicated to Very Small Prophet and Alethea27. Your reviews make me :)._

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They all settled down into the Hospital Wing. It was nearly two in the morning now. Poppy and Minerva continued to tend to Severus and everyone gathered around his bed, sitting or standing, whichever. Dumbledore stood in front of them all. They needed some answers.

"First of all," he said. "I need to clarify what happened before the incident tonight. A few days ago, Severus returned from a private meeting with Lord Voldemort. He told me that Lord Voldemort wished for him to go and watch the murder of the Potters. He was quite shaken up about this, as was I. But you see, though we had the same goal, we had different ways of achieving it. The goal, of course, was to get all three alive and safe. My idea was simple, when the Dark Lord called, Severus would tell him I said he couldn't go and meanwhile, we, the Order, would evacuate the Potters. Severus's was much different. Severus wanted to go and do it all by himself. His plan: Well, we may never know. But it obviously didn't work. He didn't betray. In fact, the reason he went is partially my fault. I didn't tell him my plan and so, he naturally thought I had none. But that doesn't mean he also made a mistake. And it most defnetly doesn't mean he doesn't have an explanation himself.

"Before I arrived at Godric's Hallow, I confronted Sirius and I would like him to tell us why Voldemort discovered the Potters' hiding place. Sirius?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "Well, I . . . OK, a few weeks ago, I had a fight with James over something really stupid. And when I got home, I felt this awful feeling in me, like I wanted to just blurt where they were hiding to Voldemort."

"And you did?" asked Remus, shocked.

"No. I'm not retarted. But I didn't want to have that feeling. I was feeling really pressured and stressed and I thought I really didn't have much, you know, strength or state of mind or whatever to do the Secret-Keeper job anymore. So last week, I gave it to Peter. And I haven't seen him since."

There was a dead silence. Finally, Lily said, "I believe you, Sirius. I hate to admit, but I believe you. You wouldn't betray your friends. Peter is cowardly and just . . . well, he wants big friends. And Voldemort is a big friend."

There were murmurs of agreement. Severus stirred and all eyes were on him. "Consciousness," said Poppy. "If he becomes conscious, we can ask what the counter curse is."

"I hope he remembers," said Minerva.

"Me too," said Lily.

"Lily, we need to hear an explanation from you. What happened?" asked Lupin.

"Oh," she said. "Well, it was . . . fast. I was writing something at my desk and I saw that it was really late. So I went downstairs and got Harry from James and too Harry upstairs. And I heard this crash. And then I heard James screaming that Voldemort was at our house. Well, I obviously got scared. I ran into the nursery and started blockading the door. But then Severus came upstairs and said we had to get out and I told him it was too late and he started . . . begging. It was weird. He said we had to escape, he said to grab the baby and run, but I put Harry into the crib and then . . . " She mentally debated telling Severus's employer, two co-workers, nurse, and three enemies that he had kissed her and told her he loved her. "Voldemort came upstairs and told Severus to move away from me. Well, 'cause I was blocking the crib and Severus was blocking me. And he said no. Voldemort asked like eight times and Severus kept saying no. And then Voldemort used _Sectumsempra Maximus _on him and he fell and started bleeding. Well, then Voldemort told me to move and I said no and then he just knocked me out and when I woke up, it was just me and Sev." She couldn't believe she had said that without shedding a tear or even choking up a bit. Everyone stared.

"Oooo," said Sirius. "He loves you!"

"How sweet!" said Minerva, smiling.

"It's nice to know he can love," teased Poppy.

"I don't think he _loves _me-" started Lily, who was marvelling over the fact that instead of them gasping at Harry missing or telling her how smart she had been to blockade the door, they were teasing her about Severus loving her.

"Nope. He _adores _you!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Oh, whatever. He's my best friend. What do expect him to do, let me die?"

Snape stirred again. And this time, his eyes moved too.

"Is he waking up?" asked Lily.

"Who can say. He'll do it in his own time. For now, we need to get as much blood into him as we can," said Poppy, who was giving him another Potion.

"Poppy, those bandages are getting bloody. Should I replace them?"

"No, put more on top of them. We need to stop this bleeding, temporarily at least." Minerva nodded and quickly grabbed the bandage roll again. She was about to wrap one around his arm, when he moved again.

"Well," said Dumbledore, getting everyone's attention. "Lingering around here will do us no good. We need to alert the rest of the Order and the _Daily Prophet _about this. Sirius, you wouldn't mind going over to the Burrow and alerting them. I'm sure Molly and Arthur will be able to spread the news around. Remus, I need you to go with me to the Ministry to alert the _Prophet. _Alastor, you wouldn't mind going over to the Longbottoms and telling them this news, would you? Hagrid, when I return from the Ministry, I'll need you for a few things. Mrs. Potter, there's an extra guest room on the 3rd floor. It's where Severus stayed a few months ago. You can stay there until we can find you to a permanent room. If you want, I'm sure Minerva wouldn't mind escorting you-"

"No," said Lily, defensively. "I'm staying here. He saved my life. I'm not just going to abandon him."

"Well, technically, Voldemort gave you a break-"

"Shut up, Sirius!"

"Ok, ok! Just trying to lighten up the mood!"

"Not helping," said Remus and murmurs of agreement followed.

"Well, fine!" He got up and left the Hospital Wing, Moody behind him.

"Remus, we'll live for the Ministry soon. If you want to get ready . . ." Remus Lupin looked very tired, his hair was a mess, and his clothes were merely a pair of sweatpants and a throw-on cloak.

"Oh," he said, turning a light shade of pink "Right. Right."

"I'll meet you in the main hall in five minutes."

"OK. Yeah, sure," he said absent-mindedly, walking out of the room. Dumbledore sighed.

"We're all so shaken up. Goodness." Then he whispered. "Lily, if he wakes up or if . . . he passes on . . . I want you to alert me immediately. There are a few things we need to deal with."

"Dumbledore, you can't start talking business the second he becomes conscious!" snapped Minerva. "He's nearly been killed. He needs rest."

"I don't intend to immediately start handing him more paperwork, Minerva," he said with a bit of a temper. "But we need to talk. That's the end of it." And with that, he swept out of the room.

Lily watched him go, then turned to Minerva. "He must be angry with Severus."

"I can't blame him. Severus's intentions were good, but he wasn't thinking clearly. He was panicking." Minerva sighed and wrapped the bandage around his arm. "But Albus doesn't explain everything and it worries us. We think he doesn't have a plan and that's when we start doing it our way. Of course, Severus- He's a bit more independent than the rest of us. He likes doing things his way."

Lily stroked his hair. "He just has to make it. I'll die if he dies."

"Don't say that," said Madame Pomfrey softly, her voice kind. "He won't die. He's a fighter. I don't know how long you were out cold exactly, but it must've been for a while, since you said it happened around midnight and it was nearly 1 when you alerted Dumbledore. It's a miracle he's still alive."

"But what if the miracle ends? This could be it." Lily's voice was filled with despair. Why have any more hope? Her world was crumbled. "I . . . He told me he loved me . . ." she whispered. She fell to her knees and put her face in her hands. And she started to cry again. This was too hard. Just three hours ago, she was happy, with a family. Now she was all alone; A widow and as far as she knew, childless. She wanted to just end it. She couldn't go on.

And now look. Severus was . . . dying. For her. He said he loved her and she thought it was just a stupid bribe. But now . . . she believed him. And she forgave him for what he said. And he wouldn't even know it.

Minerva crouched down beside her and puled her hands away from her face. "Lily," she said gently. "This is hard. We all know it. But we can't just give up. Have a little faith. Trust me, it'll go a long way. We need to stick together." She released Lily's hands and clasped her own together. "So, are you going to lie there crying or are you going to help bring Severus back to us?" She gave a tiny smile. Lily sniffled and smiled back.

"Bring him back," she said quietly.

"Excellent," said Minerva. "You can start by helping me cut these bandages."

Lily rubbed her eyes and she and Minerva stood up. "OK." She went over to the other side of the bed and began to cut the bandaging material. There was a groan and the sound of twisting sheets. Lily looked up and saw Severus moving around on his bed. His eyes opened a small bit, but they shut again quickly. Lily put down her scissors and knelt beside the bed. "C'mon Severus," she said. "You have to wake up. We want to help you. You have to stay strong. Wake up. C'mon, wake up!" Her words were a bit more fierce than she would've liked, but she didn't care. If it woke him up, that was all the mattered. But he remained still and Lily sighed.

It was nearing 3 o'clock when Madame Pomfrey looked up at her. She looked worried. "Mrs. Potter," she said seriously. "I ought to tell you something about this condition."

"Condition?"

"Yes." Her voice was shaky. "The bleeding. Um . . . well, you see, a normal person, a Muggle, I mean, who received these serious of gashes would normally die in a little over five minutes. If they received this kind of medical attention, where the bleeding didn't stop, they would die in perhaps an hour. Being that Professor Snape is a wizard, a very powerful one, he is more immune to this. If he had not been attended to when we arrived, he would have died in perhaps ten minutes. Being he is in medical care . . ." She trailed off, lost for words.

"What?" demanded Lily. "What happens?"

"If we don't find that counter curse in fifteen minutes, Mrs. Potter," she started. "Severus will die."

Lily's eyes widened. "B-b-but can't we do anything more?"

"Replenish the blood. Pressure the wounds. There is nothing more to do. Except wait and hope that he wakes up."

"No!" yelled Lily. "This can't happen! He can't die! There is nothing left for me! HE CAN'T DIE!"

"Instead of screaming like an immature three year old, I suggest you help us wake him up. Or perhaps go find this counter curse . . ."

A lightbulb went off in Lily's head. "I . . . I think I know where it is . . . " Her mind was spinning. _Severus became a Death Eater when he was sixteen. He had to have learned some Dark spells then. Maybe when he was seventeen or eighteen Voldemort told him the curse and counter curse. OK . . . but Severus had to have written it down somewhere. Somewhere he would see often, but others would ignore. In plain sight . . . THAT'S IT!_

"Where?" asked Minerva urgently.

"I don't know for sure," said Lily, hastily rushing for the door. "But I do have an idea!"

Lily dashed for the dungeons. The drafty air and the cold floor made her shiver, but she quickly dashed for the Potions Master's office. She knew where it was, she had gone there many times to see Professor Slughorn. Reaching the office, she pulled anxiously at the doorknob. But it wouldn't open. It was locked. _"Alohamora!" _she yelled and nothing happened. Cursing at herself, she ran for the next place: His rooms. She searched for them and when she found them, she hastily tried opening the door with the same spell. To her anger, it had the same effects. Running now, she reached her final looking place. His classroom. To her surprise, ti wasn't locked. She dashed inside and looked around. She ran to his desk and threw everything out of it, including glass vials of potions, which crashed and spilled to the floor (One of them happened to something acidic for it let off a foul smell and burned a hole into the floor). When she found nothing, she slumped into his chair and stared across the room, near tears.

And she saw it.

She dashed across the room and grabbed the dirty old book from the shelf. "I knew he wouldn't leave this at home! Oh goodness, I found it!" She flipped furiously through the scribbled-on Potions book. After a few minutes, she lifted the book into the air victoriously.

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Minerva sighed and slumped down into a chair. She looked at the clock, which read 2:55. "I hope this is a dream," she mused. "I hope this is a terrible nightmare and I am about to wake up."

"So do I," murmured Poppy. "Two bodies to be buried. I wonder how Severus Snape would like sharing a funeral with James Potter."

Minerva stiffled a laugh. "He wouldn't like it at all." She closed her eyes for a few precious moments and then said, "I hope Lily returns soon. I wouldn't be able to bear it if he passed and she wasn't here. Breaking the news to her would be dreadful."

They both sat in silence with nothing but the sound of the clock's _tick-tock _ringing in their ears.

Until . . .

"I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT! I FOUND THE COUNTER CURSE! IT'S HERE! I FOUND IT! HE'S GOING TO BE OK! HE'S GOING TO BE OK!" Lily scrambled into the room and slammed the open book down onto the bed. "It's right there. Right next to the curse." Minerva and Poppy eagerly leaned over and read it. Their smiles faded.

"Look at how LONG that is!" exclaimed Minerva.

"Extremely complex," said Poppy.

"Well, we can wait for Dumbledore to arrive! He can do it!" Lily smiled over at her friend. "Sev, you're going to be OK! I can't believe this!"

"Neither can I," said Minerva sullenly. "We have the counter curse and the only person who can perform it won't be back for hours and by then, our patient will be . . . well, not be."

Lily faded. "Oh God, there's no time to wait! We have to try this ourselves!"

"You try first, Miss Auror," said Poppy, who backed away.

"I'll go after you," said Minerva.

Lily nodded and looked over the counter curse. "Well . . . by the looks of it, we only have one shot. We have to direct the wand directly into the gash. That means no more band-aids."

The other two woman exchanged glances and went over to him, removing the bandages. When it was done (and the sheets were extremely bloody), Lily went over and pointed her wand into the greatest gash- the one in his chest. She took a deep breath and began.

The counter curse was long and difficult to say. It was a like a song. And it was complicated. She had to say it under her breath and she had to make it slur slightly. She concentrated with everything she had inside of her. Behind her, Minerva and Poppy stared in a silent awe. It was working. She was actually doing it. The gashes were disappearing. When she was finished, every open cut on his body was closed. And she felt on top of the world.

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_I was going to add more to this chapter, but I decided not to. So, how'd you like it? Did it suck? Well, we'll see. I'm going to start the next chapter right now. Summer one-shots are over, so expect more updates in this story and in Suicide. And expect more new stories coming too._


	4. Recovering

_I should really be working on an essay for school, but come on! I've been in school all day! How about I just write something and THEN I start my essay?_

_Dedicated to Professor Jay Snape._

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"Ouch," he groaned. He had rolled over on his side- again. It was a force of habit. That was the way he slept. But he couldn't lay on his back and he couldn't lay on his side. He had to lay on his stomach, like some arctic creature. He felt stupid.

Lily had done a very good job and he was very grateful. Unfortunately, if Dumbledore had performed the counter curse, he would have removed every scar and bruise.

Lily, on the other hand, had just stopped the bleeding and left him _very _sore.

But even if Dumbledore had been available to perform the counter curse, he probably wouldn't have. Dumbledore was very angry at Snape. Snape had disobeyed him. He had rebelled. But didn't Dumbledore understand that it was because Dumbledore never explained anything? Didn't he realize that he was trying to save his best friend?

Snape guessed he didn't.

Nobody was allowed in the Hospital Wing. One poor Hufflepuff fell off of her broomstick during a Quidditch match and received no medical attention. Minerva had pestered Dumbledore into letting him let Snape stay in the Headmaster's office until he recovered. But Dumbledore said Snape was better off in the Hospital Wing. Nobody else, of course, had about a trillion extra rooms in their quarters. Except for Severus himself (who had one extra room, as he had discovered two weeks into working at Hogwarts), but they didn't want him staying the cold, drafty dungeons. So with that said, Severus just had to get better quickly so the injured students could be tended to.

It had been two days since he had become conscious. Minerva and Lily had informed him on everything, about Harry being kidnapped ("What the hell?" was his reaction.), Peter being the Secret Keeper ("Of course, Black slinking out of EVERYTHING!"), and everything else. Severus had spent the past two days trying to digest everything they had said and talking to his visitors. The people who visited him were mainly Lily and Minerva, but a few people had passed by. Somehow, Charity Burbage had discovered he was in the Hospital Wing (perhaps it was the factor that a very upset Slughorn had returned temporarily to substitute for Snape) and word had it that she wanted to visit. But Madame Pomfrey said that only Order members were allowed to enter. For Snape's safety, of course. But did it matter? Severus would start teaching anyway and be surrounded by non-Order members. But that didn't matter to her.

He sighed and flopped over onto his stomach. He could barely sit up. He didn't know how the hell he would be able to stand . . . let alone walk. Madame Pomfrey said that if he took his potions and if he just practiced walking, he would be able to start teaching again before he knew it. Severus felt a tinge of guilt pang at his chest, though. If Dumbledore gave a crap about him, then maybe he would've brought Fawkes over to maybe cry some of the scars away. That would help exceedingly.

But that wasn't an option.

Screw Dumbledore and his stupid grudges.

The door opened and Minerva slipped in. "Are you asleep?"

He sighed. "No."

"Is Poppy here?"

"No. She went out."

Minerva quickly shut the door behind her. "Thank God! I can't talk to you for five minutes straight without her coming in to do something to you or with her butting in!"

"She's a damned gossip, Minerva. I swear, she knows everything. I don't understand _how, _since she's here all day, but she does." He rolled over onto his back and groaned. "Shit!"

"Hurts?" He nodded, his eyes closed tight. He gave a sharp intake of breath and then opened his eyes and looked at her.

"I hate this."

"Well, you shouldn't have been so stupid to go and do that!"

"I know, I know! Dumbledore's been pressing the same point over and over again! No need to remind me!"

"He's spoken to you?"

"No," said Snape, tucking his pillow under his back, trying to sit up. His voice was a bit sad. He didn't like being ignored by his mentor. He needed him. "That's how I know."

"He's being very naive about this," Minerva said coldly. "He should talk to you. You made a mistake. He's taking this much too seriously." She sighed and patted his arm. "Don't stress over him too much, dear. He's just upset, that's all. He'll come through. Just talk to him."

"I would! If I could go to his office and ask for audience! I can barely sit up, let alone go up to Dumbledore's office." He looked down at his hands, which were crumpled on his lap. "And he wouldn't come to see me if he was given all the money in Gringotts. Unless it was to see when I'll be able to go back to work so he can kick Slughorn out."

"I think Slughorn is very excited for the day when he is kicked out to come!" Minerva said, laughing. "Being called out of retirement two moths after you entered it. Doesn't appeal at all." Then she cleared her throat. "But on a more serious note, Dumbledore will have to come and see you at one time or another."

"I know," he whispered. "I just don't know when."

The door opened and both of their eyes shot towards it. Lily came in. "Oh, hello Minerva!" She exclaimed. "Hi Severus!"

"Hi," they both mumbled.

"Is Poppy here?"

"No," said Minerva. She sighed and grasped Snape's hand. "I'll see you later. I have to go grade papers."

"Bye," he said quietly. Minerva gave a small smile and exited the room. Lily sat down beside Severus, in the chair where Minerva had just been sitting in.

"Hey," she said. "How are you?"

"As good as expected."

"You can just say lousy," Lily figured. "But whatever. Where's Madame Pomfrey?"

"Invading my private stores for more ingredients for Blood Replenishing Potions and some other disgusting liquid I have to drink every night." He tutted. "She'll probably disorganize the whole thing. Between her and Slughorn, it'll take me a week to rearrange everything."

"When are you getting released?"

"When I can walk without collapsing in pain."

"That won't take too long!" she said encouragingly. "You're strong enough. I bet you'll be able to stand with little or no support by the end of the week."

"Maybe," he said, looking out the window. "I'm so angry with myself."

"You didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't be upset with yourself."

"How can you say that? You, of all people! Your husband is dead because of me! Your son is who knows where because of me!"

"No. It's because of Voldemort. I forgive you for everything. I came so close to losing you and that made me realize how stupid and useless grudges are."

Severus looked up at her. "Really?"

She nodded and he suddenly felt . . . wonderful . . .

But then Poppy came in and told him it was time to take about thirty more disgusting potions.

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Severus was reading. It had been two days since Lily had told him how she had forgiven him. He had expected to feel more excited. But it is hard for one to feel excited and joyous when he is being force-fed the most disgusting of things. Lily had been right. He was recovering more and more each day. He could finally sit up without screaming in agony or just flopping over. Some of the painful scars and bruises on his sides were healing. However, whenever he had to try and stand, he just couldn't do it. Poppy said it was because the traumatic amount of blood loss that his body had dramatically weakened. All the strength potions were going to help.

"And you've just lost so much weight over the past few months," she remarked scornfully. "And now you've lost _more! _You're practically a skeleton!" So she was making him eat and eat and eat and it was just awful. It wasn't that he was a weight freak, he just wasn't able to stomach all of that food.

It was nearly ten o'clock and Madame Pomfrey, who was absolutely exhausted, had gone to bed. The Hospital Wing was dark, except for his wand, which was lit so he could read. Suddenly, there was a stream of light coming across the room. He looked up to see the door of the Hospital Wing being opened. He wondered who on earth would be coming to see him this late at night. Unless, they weren't there to visit him . . . He braced himself and darkened his wand. He shut the book quietly and put it to the side. A tall figure entered the room. The door snapped closed and the figure whispered into the dark, _"Lumos!". _

It was Dumbledore.

Severus quickly exhaled, but the relief that had washed over him seconds ago suddenly disappeared. What did Dumbledore want? He was angry. Snape didn't know what the hell he was doing in the Hospital at ten o'clock at night.

Dumbledore lit the fire and the candles around the room. The room was filled with light. Dumbledore turned to Severus to see the younger man staring at him intensely. Dumbledore walked up to the edge of the bed and stared back at him.

"I'm upset with you, Severus," Dumbledore said cooly.

"I've noticed," Snape shot back.

"Do you think I have every right to be?"

"Of course you do. But you don't have to ignore me completely. You could have talked to me about it."

"That's what I'm going to do right now. I am extremely upset with you. You disobeyed me on purpose and ran away with Voldemort to go witness a murder after I specifically told you not to go. How am I supposed to trust you if I know you're going to disobey everything I say?"

"I don't disobey everything you say! I listen to _everything _you say! You weren't doing anything to help her! I wasn't going to let her die!"

"Did you think for even a second that I might have a plan?"

"Key word, old man: Might. I didn't know and I wasn't going to take that risk."

"You were wrong-"

"I don't care! I saved her! That's all that matters to me! I don't care about how upset you may be! Go ahead! Fire me! Send me back to Azkaban! I don't give a crap, Dumbledore! She's alive. That's all that matters." He looked away from the piercing blue gaze.

Dumbledore looked shocked. Then he spoke: "If we cannot talk about this cordially, then we will not speak about it at all. You will return to work when Madame Pomfrey releases you. Immediately." And with that, he left.

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_Whoo hoo, really weird. Please review. I guess I should start that essay now . . . _


	5. Telling Charity

_The last two chapters had a bunch of really dumb errors, I know. I replaced them with most of the errors fixed. Anyway, I hope this very short chapter is better than the other two, which really were terrible. _

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Severus scribbled another D on another paper and put it in the finished pile. He did it again. And again. It seemed that in his two week absence from teaching, everyone had forgotten everything.

That just showed how lazily Slughorn had been teaching them.

Severus wasn't happy at all. Things were just awful. He felt guilty for everything. Lily was miserable because of him. Everyone was miserable because of him. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Dumbledore was ignoring him completely.

And what on earth was going to happen to him when the Dark Lord called?

The staff room door opened and in came Charity Burbage. "Severus!" she exclaimed happily, running over to him. "Oh, God, I didn't know where you went! What happened? Where'd you go? You were hurt, weren't you? Who are all these people around? Severus, what's going on?"

Severus looked at her, his eyes glittering. He didn't know how to explain everything to Charity without giving away the Order's position. If he told her anything, Dumbledore would go from upset to furious.

But, Charity wouldn't do anything to hurt them, right? She was trustworthy.

And she was his friend.

"Severus?" she asked again, disrupting his thoughts. "Are you going to answer?"

He looked at her again and nodded.

And so he explained everything to her. Of course she knew about the Death Eaters and Azkaban. But he told her about Lily and the Order and about what had happened. She told him that she was against Voldemort too. She didn't want to fight-not yet- but she wasn't for his motives. She knew they were wrong.

Charity understood everything. She understood Lily. She understood his mistake.

And from that day on Charity Burbage became a real part of Severus Snape's life.

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_Yeah. Lame. was gonna put more, but I just can't. Gonna write the next chapter._


	6. Our Little Secret

_And now, my dear friends, I shall tell you the tale of how Samuel Martin came to hate Severus Snape. _

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"So who's that redhead girl who's been hanging around here?" Martin asked Sinistra. They were up in Sinistra's lovely office in the Astronomy tower. There was a wonderful little balcony area where she had a tea table and that's where they had their breakfast every morning.

Sinistra absolutely loved Martin- she thought he was a dream. And she thought he loved her back.

He didn't, though. Sinistra was useful. She could get information for him. She was his ally in battle. She was always on his side.

"I wanted to know as well," said Sinistra, taking a sip of tea. "So I asked Charity. That lady's Lily Potter. The Auror."

"_Her?" _Martin asked, shocked. "What's she doing here? Isn't she married? Doesn't she have a son?"

"Yeah. Her husband was actually killed. Don't you read the _Daily Prophet? _It was in the news! And her son . . . well, no one knows where her son is, according to the paper. I think she knows more than she said she did."

"Her husband is dead?" said Martin. His mind was tumbling.

"Yep," said Sinistra. "But did you hear me? Burbage knows more than she said."

Martin shook himself away from his Lily fantasies. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, she's always around that Snape!"

"Snape?" asked Martin. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Don't you know anything? He and the Potter woman are friends. Really good friends. Like best friends. They've known each other since they were nine or something."

"How the hell do you know this?"

"I've been reading the _Daily Prophet _for years. And I hear all the gossip around here. It's pure fact, Samuel. They know each other really well."

Martin paused in deep thought. "Snape and Lily Potter. No. Not going to work." He stood up and fixed his robes. "Aurora, darling, I need you to help me with something. I don't think Snape should get too close with the Lily woman. Not good for her. Not good for him. He's an ex-con and for all we know, _dangerous."_

"What do you need me to do?" she asked, standing up and looking into his hazel eyes.

"Oh, plenty of things. First of all, I don't think getting anywhere too close to Snape is a good idea. If he even says something near nice to you, turn away, snap back. Get him _away! _Secondly, I want you to get to know that Lily woman better. Talk to her. If she goes near Snape, step in. Strike up a conversation. You need to get them away from each other. This poor Auror woman will not be harmed by that terrible monster." Aurora nodded eagerly.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. When you get a chance, slip this-" He handed her a vial of a clear potion he had pulled out of his robes. "-into the Muggle lover's pumpkin juice. The whole thing."

"The _whole _thing?" she asked, gasping. He smiled and nodded.

"Yes. We need to get Charity talking. If we're going to save the school." And he leaned in close. "And of course, don't say anything to anyone else. This is our little secret."

"_Our _little secret?" she whispered in awe.

"Precisely."

"Oh, _Samuel!" _She hugged him.

He smiled. "Better get to my classes. I'll talk to you later." And he exited the office.

Martin gave a sneer when he was away from Aurora's office. Oh, what a stupid woman she was! He didn't give a damn about saving the school. He wanted one thing: The beautiful, sexy, amazing Lily Potter as his woman. And the only way to do that was to get information out of Burbage, ruin Snape, and eventually, ditch Aurora.

Lily Potter was practically already his, he thought smugly, as he strode to his first class.

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_Oh, goodness, what is going to happen? Well, I know already, but you don't! Make your little guesses!_


	7. Flirting and Flattering

**Chapter 7: FLIRTING AND FLATTERING**

_Goodness! So now we enter into the pathetic attempts of Martin and Sinistra. They are so stupid . . . well, Sinistra is. Martin, not so much._

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It was a month since Halloween and there had been no plans to go rescue Harry yet.

Lily, who had been very upset about this, went to Dumbledore. He assured her that he was thinking very hard, and that so far, he knew that they had to do this _very _slowly. So she would just have to wait.

Things had changed. The extra room was needed for something, so Lily had to move in with Snape, who had an extra bedroom. It was small, but it was nice. She hadn't exactly gotten used to how cold and drafty the dungeons were and she didn't like how dark they were either. And unfortunately, there was no extra bathroom. So she had to share with Snape, who wasn't exactly happy about this.

"What?" she had said, when he expressed this to her. "You don't want to see me naked?" He had rolled his eyes and walked away after that.

She thought she'd be able to talk to him more since they were in the same area. But he was always teaching and when he wasn't, he was working on other things. When he had time to talk, he was just about ready to pass out.

So Lily had to talk to other people . . .

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"Excuse me," said a voice behind her. "But you wouldn't happen to be Lily Potter, would you?"

LIly turned around to see a tall, handsome man behind her. She was a bit taken aback at his appearance: His hair was thick and dark, his eyes warm and brown, and his smile just so . . . aaahhh. She smiled at him and she couldn't help flushing pink. "Yes, um, that's me."

"Well, I'm honored to meet you," he said cordially. "I agree with popular opinion, Mrs. Potter, and say that I think you are one of the greatest Aurors we've seen in years."

The cheeks went from pink to red and she looked at the ground. "Well, I, um, I don't think I'm _that _amazing, really-"

"Oh, but it's true."

She gave a giggle and then cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, but, um, you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

He gave an elegant bow and said, "Professor Samuel Martin, at your service, ma'am." She gave another giggle. She had never met a professor this chivalrous, or adorable in her entire life.

"You're a professor?" she asked. "What do you teach?"

"The lowly art of Defense."

"Defense? Oh, but, then you could be an Auror as well!"

"Ah, no. I do not posses the skills that are needed for that line of work. I am merely a school teacher, like no other. You, on the other hand, have caught great criminals! I could never do such a thing."

"Oh, I haven't caught any criminals. Well, I caught a person, but he wasn't exactly a criminal-"

But the bell rang and he sighed. "Duty calls. I hope to see you soon. But now, I must make haste." And he rushed away, leaving Lily awed.

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"And he's really, really nice!" she blabbed. It was the evening of her first encounter with Martin and she was babbling on and on about how wonderful he was. Severus, who was being forced to listen, was grading tests.

"Hm," was his reply.

"He said that I was beautiful and wonderful and smart and great and . . . wow!" She collapsed dramatically on the couch.

"Hm."

"I mean, he was acting like he'd never met anyone like me before! It was amazing!"

"Hm."

"He's so cute!"

"Hm."

"Say something! What do you think?"

He snorted. "Sounds like a certain someone has a crush . . ."

"Oh, shut up!"

He rolled his eyes. "You just told me to say something . . ."

"I know, but I changed my mind."

He sighed and continued working.

"I wish I had a job at Hogwarts."

"No, you really don't."

"I do! I'm so bored here! Everyone is teaching or at work and I'm just . . . here."

"Go talk to Dumbledore then. Complain about how unhappy _you _are with your position here. He'll do exactly what he did to me."

"What? What'd he do?" she asked eagerly.

"He told me that I could be Filch's assistant."

She spat and grimaced and pretended to choke. She fell off the couch. "GROSS! I'll sit around here all day and do nothing!"

Snape smirked.

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Lily sat down beside Martin at breakfast that morning. Sinistra, who was sitting at Martin's left side, looked very upset. Now look, Lily was Samuel's right-hand girl. Literally! Now, their breakfasts together were extinct and all he spoke of was keeping his precious Lilly-Billy safe. Sinistra sighed. If it got her Sammie back, it was worth the work.

The usual sitting order at the High Table was very different everyday. Well, for those on Dumbledore's right side. To those on the left, it was always the same because it was a group of people who either loved or hated each other and couldn't stand to be near someone they hated and just had to be near their friends. So from Dumbledore, going left, it was always, Lily, Martin, Sinistra, Charity, Severus, and Minerva, who wasn't very happy to be sitting on the side filled with constantly quarreling twenty year olds who were all single and fighting over each other. However, she'd rather sit next to Severus Snape than Samuel Martin any day.

"Hi!" she said happily. Martin looked at her and smiled.

"Hello, Mrs. Potter," he said courteously. Snape, who was listening at the other side of the table, rolled his eyes. Neither Minerva nor Charity had arrived yet.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Never better. I hope you slept well."

"Wonderfully, thank you." she giggled.

_Sick, _Snape thought. _Just sick._

Martin smiled. "Wonderful!" He turned to Sinistra. "Did you put it in?" he whispered.

"Yep," she said happily. "This morning. Nobody was here, only two Hufflepuff first years and they saw nothing. I can do a wonderful quick slip of hand."

"Lovely," he muttered. "Let's see if Charity Garbage can tell us a bit more about this case. Make sure you pull her aside as soon as you get the chance, baby doll." He winked and turned back to Lily.

Minerva sat down next to Severus. "Hello, Severus."

"Minerva," he replied, absent-mindedly, listening in on the conversation between Lily and Martin.

"How are you?"

"Fine."

"Is there any particular reason for your one-word answers?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

Severus was deep in thought. He didn't know Martin very well, but he thought he was just another James Potter. But Martin hadn't shown him any cold feelings- in fact, he hadn't shown him any feelings at all. They ignored each other. And it seemed to be working well.

He didn't suspect Martin of anything.

But that changed in about thirty seconds.


	8. Aurora's Mistake

**Chapter 8: Aurora's Mistake**

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Charity Burbage came sweeping into the Great Hall. Her blonde hair swished behind her like a veil. She looked cheerful, as usual, and was positively glowing. She was always this radiant and bright. She walked down the right side of the hall and quickly stepped up to the High Table. She swished behind Minerva and Severus and took her seat. "Good morning, everybody!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi, Charity," said Snape.

"Hello, Charity," said Minerva.

"Charity!" exclaimed Sinistra. "How lovely to see you! Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," she said happily. "Pass the waffles, Samuel."

Martin passed the plate of waffles over across Sinistra to Charity. He gave Sinistra a sinister look and she smirked. "There you go, Charity," he said, smiling.

"Thank you." She put a waffle on her plate and offered the plate to Severus, who shook his head. "Honestly, Severus, there's this thing- I don't know if you've ever heard of it- but it's called eating . . ."

Minerva made a fist and put it her mouth, trying to not stifle a laugh. Snape rolled his eyes. Charity took a bite of the waffle. " . . . and you should seriously try it sometime."

"Very funny, Charity," he said, briskly. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not hungry."

"Yeah, OK." She picked up her goblet of pumpkin juice and took a gulp.

Snape looked over at Martin, who had just given Sinistra a knowing smile. Lily tapped his shoulder and he turned around and struck up another conversation with her. Snape sighed.

"So, Charity," said Sinistra, turning to look at her. "Tell me, where do you think the Potter woman's child has gone?"

But Charity wasn't paying attention. She was looking into her goblet.

"What _are _you doing, Charity?" Sinistra demanded.

Charity stuck her hand into the goblet and pulled out a wet and pumpkin-smelling vial, containing a clear liquid. "What the hell-?"

Snape snatched it away from her and dried it off with his napkin. "Do you know what it is, Severus?" asked Minerva.

"Oh, I have my guesses," Snape growled, opening the vial and smelling the contents. He nodded.

"What is it?" asked Charity.

"Veritaserum."

Martin looked over at him when he said that. "What did you say?"

Snape looked over back at him. "It seems that Charity has just found a vial filled with Veritaserum in her pumpkin juice. You wouldn't know how that got there, would you?"

Martin looked stunned. He shook his head and then said, "How dare you suspect me of having anything to do with that!"

"I didn't suspect you of anything, Martin," Snape sneered. "I merely asked if you had any idea of how it got there."

"Why are you asking me, when I should be asking you? It's odd, isn't it, how you automatically knew what it was."

"I'm the Potions Master, Martin."

"I know that, Snape. And I doubt anyone at this school, besides you, perhaps not even Dumbledore, can concoct Veritaserum. Very odd" He stood up and looked over at Snape, his nose in the air. "I don't know how that got there. Come, Aurora, let us go." And Sinistra stood up. The two of them left through the side entrance.

Snape got up and dashed for the door. "Where are you going, Severus?" asked Lily.

"You never mind," he snapped, rushing out.

Severus Snape lurked quietly after the shadows of Aurora Sinistra and Samuel Martin. He followed the sounds of the high heels tapping. When they stopped, he stopped. He quickly pressed himself against a wall and placed the Disillusion Charm over himself. Martin looked around the bend, directly at where Snape was. Of course, he couldn't see him. Snape could make himself invisible with a Disillusion Charm. However, if he moved a muscle, the invisibility would wear off. Martin sighed and walked back around the corner. "Aurora, darling, go up to your office. We can talk later, OK?"

"OK," she said and there was sound of high heels.

Snape sighed mentally. Now he would have to creep after them! This was insane.

Martin came marching down the corridor. He looked furious. He was walking right towards where Snape was. In fact . . . he looked like he could actually see Snape.

He stood in front of where Snape was and punched him in the eye.

Snape fell to the ground, his hands slapping his bleeding eye. The charm was gone. Martin looked down at him, his wand pointed at him. He started to laugh.

"I was aiming for your huge nose, but the eye works." He tutted. "Didn't mummy ever tell you not to eavesdrop?" Snape glared at him with his one eye. "Well, in case she didn't, I'll give you a little lesson about it. There are consequences." He grabbed Snape by the cuff. "You've got no proof, skinny. You don't know anything. Mention this little incident to anyone and I'll _make sure _that you are blamed for the Veritaserum." He let go of his cuff. "Nice talking to you." And he walked away.


	9. Saving The Baby

**Chapter 9: Saving the Baby**

_I know you guys are worried about Harry. Don't worry! They haven't forgotten him! _

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"Tell me again, _how _did you get that black eye?"

Snape batted away the ice pack she had tried to put on his eye- again. "I've told you nearly ten times; I had a potion accident. It's not a bruise, it's just a burn."

"A burn that looks like a bruise."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we having the Order meeting? Nobody told me."

"Dumbledore's office." Her mouth formed an 'O' and they quickly emerged from the dungeons up to the Headmaster's office.

Snape knocked on the door and Dumbledore's voice called through the door, "Who's there?"

"Why's he saying that?" she whispered.

"The Order of the Phoenix is in there and if a student was to enter . . ." he whispered quickly.

"It's Lily and Severus!" yelled Lily.

The door opened up and the two of them went inside. Dumbledore smiled at them. "Hello, Lily . . . Severus . . ." Dumbledore's anger towards his spy was still very much alive and Snape was starting to miss having his mentor there for him. He needed to tell _someone _about Martin. "You're a few minutes late. Take a seat."

Lily sat over by Sirius on the sofa and Snape's eyes went to the ceiling. The only chair left was right _next _to Dumbledore. He sighed and sat down.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can begin the meeting." Dumbledore stood up and looked around the room. "As you all may or may not know, this meeting and perhaps, the next few meetings will be centered on getting Harry Potter out of the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of you have questioned us not doing this sooner. I have my reasons. We do not know if the Potter boy is still alive and breaking into Voldemort's camp to rescue a baby that is not alive in out of the question. We need information." Dumbledore's eyes looked over at Snape. Dumbledore's glare was not the warm gaze that Snape usually received from him. It was icy. "And who can bring information better than a spy?

"Now, saying that the child . . . and Severus . . . are both alive. We need to have a plan on how to retrieve the child. I have ideas. But I want to hear yours first. Any options?"

"We break in, Snape shows us where the kid is, and we take him and leave." Sirius said. Everyone groaned.

"Really, Sirius?" Lily said. "That's so pathetic, it's sick."

"I'm just saying! Why can't we kidnap him back?"

"Because if we do, Voldemort will kidnap him back and Harry will think Lily and Voldemort are divorced and that he goes to live with each one every other week!" said Lupin.

"And there's probably tons of security outside of that hide-out," said Arthur.

"Any more options?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well, if kidnapping won't work, then what if we traded Harry for something," Sirius suggested.

"Trade the child for something?" asked Molly.

"Like what?" asked Minerva.

"Ask the spy! I don't know anything about Voldemort except that he's ugly as hell!"

"So? What would he want to trade Harry with, Severus?" asked Lily.

Snape sighed. "Not a what. He wouldn't give us that child back for all the money in the world. He'd want a person."

"Bingo!" said Sirius victoriously. "That kid's as good as here! There's this really annoying Muggle hobo that hangs out around the Leaky Cauldron entrance- he's always calling me Gustavo- we can give him to Voldemort!"

Everyone stared at Sirius.

"The Dark Lord wouldn't trade Potter Jr. for some 70 year old Muggle that probably hasn't had a shower for a quarter of a century," said Severus.

"How do you know how old he is?"

"Honestly, Black, we all know who you're talking about. He calls _everyone _Gustavo."

"Oh . . ." Black whispered. "I didn't know. Then who would he trade Harry for?"

"Someone of actually worth and importance to him, I'd think," said Kingsly.

"Examples?" Moody requested.

"Dumbledore, Lily, Sirius, maybe you, Moody, on a good day, or even the werewolf," Snape said.

"Why not you?" snapped Sirius

"He already has me!" Snape snapped back. "He won't take anything lesser than an Order member, though. In fact, you'd be lucky enough to trade Dumbledore in for the baby who has been deemed a hero at age 1. The child's supposed to be the only one who can defeat the Dark Lord." There was a pause. "I hate to say this . . . but you'll be lucky enough if that baby's even alive."

"I still don't see why we can't just go and steal him back and then do the whole Fidelius thing again!" said Sirius.

"Because last time," Lily muttered. "It didn't exactly work out." Then she sighed. "It might work, but we don't even know where Harry is. We need more information."

"And a better plan." Lupin sighed. "Can't we write this down?"

Dumbledore pointed his wand to the center of their circle. A rotating . . . what was that? A dry erase board? floated above the ground. He pointed his wand at it and words appeared:

**Ways to retrieve Harry:**

• **Kidnap- Fidelius**

• **Trade**

"Any other ideas?" Dumbledore asked. Nobody gave any response. "Very well then."

"Um, Dumbledore?" said Lily.

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't we give Severus . . . I don't know, tips or something, on how to persuade Voldemort to show him where Harry is?"

"I don't need any help," Severus said sharply. "I am perfectly capable of doing this myself."

There was a loud shouting of voices, fighting over what Snape had just said and Snape was about to fight back . . .

His vision got blurry.

His head began to hurt.

His arm began to sting.

With a bang of his wand, Dumbledore silenced the Order. Severus looked up at him.

"Now," started Dumbledore. "We need to start-"

"Headmaster?"

"Severus, I'd appreciate it if you did not interrupt me while I'm talking."

"But Headmaster, he calls."

The gazes of everyone suddenly became very dark. Dumbledore breathed slowly. He was angry at Severus, that much was true. But he didn't want to lose him. "Very well, Severus. Be careful." The younger man nodded. "Good luck."

Severus nodded again and swished out of the room, leaving everyone, even Sirius Black, very worried.

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_Three chapters in one day! Wow! OK, so, you know me and my Voldemort issues, so the next chapter MAY take some time. Hopefully, I'll be able to muster something. Please, if you have an idea for how Voldemort can torture Severus, then leave it in your review or send me a PM. :)_


	10. Russian Roulette

**Chapter 10: Russian Roulette**

_I have received some messages from some people demanding another chapter. So here it is!_

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His legs were numb as he walked towards the forest. The brisk November wind chilled him, yes. But he felt much more cold at the thought of what was to happen.

The Dark Lord was going to kill him. Not quickly, as he would have liked. Slowly- breaking him down, breaking his body, his mind, his spirit and soul.

Oh, but he wasn't ready to die! Yes, his life wasn't easy. But he felt too young to die. He was only a year over twenty and yet his life was a tragedy.

He looked up at the overcast. Blue. Pure blue. Not a cloud in the sky. And it wasn't a lighter blue or a darker. It was perfect.

He reached the Forest. He leaned against a tree and looked around.

God damn it, he would miss it here.

He put his finger to his mark and was whisked away.

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"Well, well, well," Voldemort whispered. "If it isn't the lover boy." He gave a sneer. "Kneel."

Severus dropped to his knees. They were alone in a dark room. The tension was poisoning the air around them.

"I heard rumors," Voldemort said, his voice soft. "That the boy teacher at Hogwarts had been gravely injured- nearly bled to death- but had fully recovered." He looked him over. "Hmph. Seems they were wrong." Voldemort strode over to him and kicked him. Severus stared at the floor. "It's a wonder anyone sees any worth in you- scrawny thing. You could just wither into nothingness. Not that anyone would care.

"How do you live, Severus? How is that today, you kneel before me- alive. Only two know the counter curse for Sectumsempra- The attacker and the victim. Neither were able to perform the counter curse. How is it that it was performed then? Does someone else know? Or did _love _save you?" Severus said nothing. _"CRUCIO!" _Voldemort shouted and a shot of pain hit him. He had been expecting it. He crouched lower, keeping it all inside, not breathing a word. "Answer me! Who performed the counter curse?"

"Lily Potter, my Lord."

"Typical. How did she know the counter curse?"

"The Potions Book, my Lord. She went looking for it and she found the counter curse."

Voldemort smiled. "That's all I wanted to know. And now for the punishment." A stream of black smoke came out of his wand, slithering like a snake. It began to cloud the entire room, making the surroundings pitch black. before he knew it, the entire room was clouded except for a clearing in the center, which was where he and his master were.

"Tell me, Severus, have you ever heard of 'dangerous play'?" Severus gave no answer, but felt his heart began to race. Voldemort laughed. "I didn't think so. I've never had much for fun and games, but there _is _one game I will play. One that can be potentially fatal and is quite a thriller. Have you heard of Russian Roulette?"

Severus's eyes widened. He knew this game. "Yes, my Lord."

"I thought you might. But let me tell you my version of this game. Quite like the traditional . . . just a bit more . . . fair . . .

"So, as you know, I'll take my gun and spin the the cylinder of the revolver. There will only be one bullet in one slot. I put it to your head and pull the trigger. Now, here's where my additions come in. The bullet inside is magically powered and you will feel it when the bullet goes through your head. You will not die right away. You will have a few final moments of agony before it's all over. I like to have some fun with these things, Severus." Severus felt tense.

"And the final addition I've made to our little game is something I find is to your advantage. I have done a few very complex spells on this gun we're using and the only way that bullet with go through your head is if you don't deserve to live. If you do, if you still have purpose, you will survive this encounter."

"And if I do?" he asked.

"Well, we'll see. I doubt it, though, to be honest. You're worthless." Voldemort pulled a gun out of his robes. Severus felt himself give a small mental laugh- The Muggle hater, carrying a gun, preparing to play Russian Roulette- A Muggle, suicidal game. "Are you ready?"

Severus took a deep breath and said, "Yes, my Lord."

"Good," Voldemort cackled. He put the gun to Severus's forehead. The metal was cold. Severus shut his eyes.

He heard the creaking spin of the revolver. It spun round and round. He knew the bullet was in one of those holes. But which one?

He heard the finger settle onto the trigger.

Severus would not open his eyes.

And a few moments later, Voldemort pulled the trigger.

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_I've never played Russian Roulette, so I don't know exactly how to play it. But I've read about it and some of my friends have told me what they know, so I did my best. _


	11. Baby

**Chapter 11: Baby**

_This chapter is purely dialogue._

_Dedicated to Fortunata. _

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"The bullet . . . it does not go through. You survive . . . how?"

"You said the bullet would only go if one is unworthy of life, my Lord."

"I know what I said! Do not anger me, Severus, for I did not yet enlighten you of the events that would occur if you survive. Severus . . . tell me, Severus, is Lily Potter extremely worried about the whereabouts of her child?"

"I would not know, my Lord. She has not expressed any concern to me."

" . . . Odd. A mother who shows no concern for her son . . . Odd indeed. And Dumbledore- has he started making plans for the rescue of this child?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"And has he asked you for advice?"

"Yes, my Lord, but Dumbledore has not been . . . eager to speak with me as of late. He is still angry with me about the incident at Halloween."

"Not good, Severus. You need to stay in Dumbledore's good books. Does he doubt your loyalty?"

"I doubt it, my Lord."

"Hmph. I need information and if Dumbledore is upset with you, then I don't get any information . . .

" . . . This test we've just taken tells me that you deserve to live. I see otherwise. However, let us just see if you can prove to me you have some worth. Rise. I have somewhere to take you . . ."

"May I inquire where, my Lord?"

"No, you may not. In fact, I cannot tell you where. I cannot show you where. Stand still while I . . ."

"A blindfold, my Lord?"

"Indeed. Follow my voice . . . and catch up! I cannot tell you where we are going. I am not sure if I can trust you yet, Severus Snape. Your defiance has shown disloyalty and disrespect in a terrible manner. But this- I do not know why i show you this of all things. But I can tell you this . . . if you do good work, I believe my faith in you will grow . . . Confused? . . . I thought you may be."

"I am trying to comprehend . . ."

"Well, do not stress your brain any further. Walk in front of me, Severus . . . Only a few steps. Stop. Do not move."

"My Lord . . . what is that sound . . . crying?"

"Indeed, Severus. There you go . . . see for yourself."

" . . . M-m-my Lord . . . the child . . . you have not yet killed it?"

"I find it foolish to kill it yet. My reasons are not to be told as of yet, but if you complete this assignment to my satisfaction . . . well, I think this will run smoothly. I want you to do something."

"Speak it, my Lord, and it shall be done."

"A daring promise . . . let us see if you can fulfill it. Do not tell a single member of the Order of the Phoenix that the child is alive. Tell them that the child, according to what I have implied, is dead. But tell them that you do not believe me and that you think the child is indeed, alive. If they are planning another move, alert me at our next gathering. I want to see the foolish attempts of the Order. When the time comes that they will attack, alert me at once. I need them in my grasp and at my mercy."

"Yes, my Lord, of course. They are already creating many foolish notions, such as coming as a mob."

"Indeed, very foolish. We shall see how stupid they get. Drive them in the wrong direction, Severus. Remember, Harry Potter is mine. His end is near. They are fools. They will never have him."

"Never, my Lord."

"And Severus . . . before you go . . . Tell me if the Order believes in life enclosed in death . . ."

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_I know, Voldemort was way too nice. But he needs Severus to be uninjured . . . he has his reasons. NOW! Back to Martin and Sinistra and those other jerks._


	12. Stars and Potions

**Chapter 12: Stars and Potions**

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"You are such an idiot!" Martin yelled at the top of his lungs. He and Aurora were in the Astronomy Tower. It was nearly ten that night. Aurora gave a gasp.

"I am not!" she protested. "I did exactly what you said! 'Put the whole thing in her pumpkin juice'!"

He sighed and slapped his hand to his forehead. "I didn't mean literally _drop _the whole thing into the juice! I meant empty out the whole thing into the juice and throw the vial away!"

"Well, you should have said that!"

"You're an idiot!" he snapped. He saw the look on Aurora's face and then softened his own. He needed his precious princess, his devoted duchess, his stalker sidekick. "Well, when it comes to Potions. You're better at taking notes, aren't you? You take notes on the stars all the time."

"Of course! It's easy."

"Wonderful. I need you to listen in on Snape. It doesn't matter who he's talking to, be nearby with a pad and take notes."

"Easy," she said.

"Great. I have to go downstairs and plan my next lesson. I'll see you, princess."

"Bye, Sammy-Sam!" She said, blushing.

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	13. Useless

**Chapter 13: Usless**

_Well, I spent a lot of my time Monday working on a calender that has the days I'm going to update for certain things. I have, so far, planned out, that this story will be finished by Halloween along with Full Moon. I think you'd also like to know is that the sequel, Lily's Battle, won't be coming out until either late December or January because I have a lot of stuff to finish up! But we still have seven chapters left!_

_Also, I am urging you to please vote about the next chapter of Suicide!_

_Anyway, let's get to the story!_

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Lily felt useless.

The fall days would roll by and day after day, the professors would go teach, and the Order members would go to work, leaving Lily alone. With no one to talk to. With nothing to do but sit and do nothing all day.

At first, Lily would just sit in the staff room and talk with the teacher who was on break. But lately, the teachers she enjoyed talking to spent their breaks grading papers in their classrooms because they were so busy. And all of the stupid, annoying teachers would end up coming to talk to her.

She lived for mealtimes now. That was when she was able to talk to the teachers and enjoy herself. But sometimes, Severus wouldn't come up for meals ("I'm not hungry."), or Minerva would leave early ("I have too much work to do. I have to get started."). And other people were absent and left early or were just plain annoying.

The weekends were better, but they weren't too good. Order members would pass by, but only for a short while. The teachers were hunched over their desks all day long. In fact, sometimes, the weekends were worse.

During those long hours alone, Lily had little to do. She'd sometimes walk around the school or out by the grounds. But it had been raining lately and there were too many sixth years on break in the halls. She didn't want to go to the library because there were always students there. So what she had been doing, as of late, was sitting on the couch in the dungeons, trying to fall asleep or reading one of Severus's potions books. The books were good, but she had read some of them and most of them were too advanced for her. So she'd spend most of her time sitting there, thinking.

But that was hell. Thinking. The only things she could think about were terrible things. Things that made her cry. Things that brought back terrible memories. It was like there was a dementor in the room. She couldn't think any happy thoughts.

She would think about James. Her husband. Her dead husband. She would think about him and how much he loved her. About the things they would do together and it made her weep. The memory of the night he died played over and over in her mind, like a broken record. Over and over again. And when she thought of that night, she would think of Harry. Harry! Perhaps the closest thing to happiness she could think of was the fact that he was alive. What Severus had told them . . . It made her want to run to Voldemort's hide-out and take back her son.

He had seen him. Her son- Her one-year-old son- was in a cage. Under the care of Voldemort. He was thinner, Severus had said, and pale. And he had been crying. He said that Voldemort didn't want him to tell the Order this, but to tell them that he was implied as dead. He said that Voldemort wanted to be alerted when they were planning to attack. And if he didn't . . . what would happen . . .

Everything was just a blur around her. Things were complicated and sad. She felt like someone living on a beach. Everything had been nice. But then a hurricane arrived and ruined everything. And now she had to fix it up again.

She was worried for her son.

She missed him.

She had to make things right.


	14. Okay

_Just another pure dialog things. Hope this is good. I want people to understand that Lily IS worried for her son- and that she is realizing that Martin is a creep._

"Severus?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Voldemort used the Cruciatus on Harry?"

"Well . . . I don't know. He'd use it on normal prisoners. Then again, your son isn't exactly a normal prisoner. I doubt it, though."

"I wonder if he's crying right now . . . Oh Severus!"

"He's going to be fine, Lily. He didn't look beaten or anything. I told you he looked thin, that's all."

"Voldemort isn't feeding him! He's a cruel bastard! I hate him!"

"You should. I mean, he did kidnap your son."

"Do you think he's killed him by now?"

"Oh no, I doubt it. I think that if he is to kill him, he'd want all of us to see it and he'd want to build up tension. He's a Drama Queen."

"If this wasn't so serious, I would probably laugh. But . . . I just want my son back."

"Of course you would. If I had a son who'd been kidnapped by the Dark Lord, I'd want him back."

"You might've just had a son, you know?"

"Just because I made love with that Ravenclaw girl in seventh year doesn't mean I was destined to be a father!"

"You know, you're supposed to save that stuff for marriage?"

"Did you? . . . I didn't think so."

"That was different- We ended up getting married!"

"Whatever. How did we get on this topic?"

"I hope Harry's still a virgin . . ."

"Lily, that's just disgusting."

"It's true! Voldemort could be a child molester."

"True . . . but I doubt he'd rape your child."

"I hope not. I hope we get him back by Christmas."

"We need more information."

"Go get some!"

"It isn't that easy! We need time, Lily."

" . . . I love him, Severus. I love Harry. You don't know what it's like to be a parent."

"No, I don't."

"It's wonderful. Tiring, but wonderful. And I'm just so dead worried. Everything's been so hard . . . and now Martin's _flirting _with me!"

"You should keep away from him. He's . . . he's a creep."

"I know. I don't like him at all. He's sick . . . Severus, are you sure that everything's going to be okay?"

"Lily, I swear over my life that everything's going to be okay . . .

"For you."

_Hope this is good so far. Next chapter: We go back to Sinistra and Martin . . . and Charity._


	15. Eavesdropping

_I've been getting a lot of reviews lately, which is making me smile! The more reviews I get, the more quickly the updated will come! And remember, comments, critique, predictions, corrections, ideas, and questions are welcome via PM or review! Also, I have create a collaboration account with SeverusSnape19 and our username is GoldandSilverUnite. You can PM me there (just specify that you're talking to me), and I will have our email address up soon enough. Oh, and by the way, I need as many ideas as I can get my hands on for Lily's Battle, so if you want the sequel up by December rather than January, give me some!_

_Enough of this! Onto the story! Is Lily still depressed? Is Martin still an ass? You will find out soon enough!_

_Dedicated to everyone who has reviewed (especially Alethea27 and Very Small Prophet, who are my most faithful.) :)_

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The staff room door opened and Charity Burbage looked up from her papers. It was Sinistra, who walked in gracefully. She was very pretty. Her skin was an elegant tan color and her hair was always done in a bun. Her robes were vibrant and exciting. She was exactly the opposite of Charity, who was plain. She didn't like being plain and simple. She wanted to be elegant and exciting. But she probably never could.

Sinistra pulled a book from the shelf, which, oddly enough, was _Standard Book of Spells Grade 1. _She sat down in an armchair in the corner and opened it up. She pretended to be engaged in it, when she obviously wasn't even reading it (since the book was upside-down).

What an idiot.

The door opened again and in came Severus Snape. Charity smiled at him. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said, sitting beside her.

"How are things? I haven't seen you around."

"I've been busy. With work. With . . . other things."

"Like Lily?"

"Not necessarily. But it has something to do with her."

"What is it?"

"Just Order stuff. It's complicated." He sighed and buried his face in his hands. "And tiring," he muffled.

"Are you okay? You look awful."

He looked up at her and smirked. "Thanks."

She laughed. "I didn't mean that. What I should have said was, you don't look well. Have you been eating?"

"Yeah . . ."

"You don't sound so sure."

"I'm fine, Charity."

"Positive?" she asked. Concern painted her syllables and she looked at him with care. He smiled slightly.

"Positive."

"Okay, then," she said, her voice wary.

The staff room door opened again and Martin came in. Sinistra leapt to her feet. "Sammy Sam! Guess what? I eavesdropped on them and they talked about Lily!"

Severus and Charity gaped.

Martin laughed nervously. "Aurora, you know better than to eavesdrop!" He looked at her intensely, hoping that she could take a hint.

She obviously couldn't.

"But you told me to!"

"Interesting, Martin. Veritaserum, eavesdropping. Looks like you want something out of us." said Charity.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Burbage," Martin snapped. "I haven't spoken to Aurora here for weeks and I have not the slightest idea of what she is saying. Veritaserum? My dear, Charity, the only two people I can think of in this school clever enough to concoct a Veritaserum would be the Headmaster- and your little friend."

"Really, Martin? Really?" Snape said. "If I had wanted to put Charity under the influence of Veritaserum, I'd have emptied out the vial, note drop it in the goblet. If I'm clever enough, as you say, to concoct such a potion, I must be clever enough to actually _open _the vial." Charity stiffled a giggle.

Martin sneered. "Of course, if we were to be . . . professional, about this, we should bring it to the Headmaster, if not the Ministry. The use of Veritaserum in that manner is illegal."

Severus stared at him. What if they did bring it to Dumbledore? Would he believe Severus's claim? He was still upset with him. Would he go with Martin? What was going to happen?

Charity smiled. "Go ahead. I actually think that's a good idea."

Martin sneered. "Then perhaps I will." He swept out of the room, and like a faithful puppy dog, Sinistra followed him.

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"I can't believe you're so stupid!" Martin yelled as the two of them entered his office. "The whole point of eavesdropping is listening to their conversations without telling them."

"I didn't tell them I was eavesdropping!" she snapped, eyes squinted at him. "I told you and they overheard."

"You should have said it quieter then!"

"Well, sorry! No one told me!"

Martin composed himself. "Listen, Aurora, just . . . can we talk later? Please?"

She sighed. "Ok," she said reluctantly. And she left the room.

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_Next chapter: YULE BALL! I think . . . probably._


	16. The Yule Ball

_The next two chapters are the final chapters were Martin and Sinistra show their faces for a while. I need a break from them. But the final three chapters are purely Severus, Lily, and Dumbledore._

_Now, the Yule Ball! We need to lighten this up! Seriously, this story is so sad and upsetting, I bet plenty of you are on anti-depressants!_

_Reviews are my favorite things!_

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**Memo**

**RE: The Yule Ball**

**To: Staff and Students of Hogwarts**

**On December 25, from seven to midnight, a Yule Ball will be held for students in their 4th to 7th years and for the entire staff. Please remember to dress according to the dress code (dress robes for boys, gowns for girls). For students in their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years, an excursion to Hogsmeade that night will be taken, lead by Professor Sinistra. All inhabitants of the school will be required to be inside the castle by ten and will be required to be back in their common rooms by 12:15 AM.**

Lily looked down from reading the memo and looked at Snape, who was (as usual), grading papers. "There's a Yule Ball on Christmas Day."

"So I've heard."

She folded up the paper. "Are you going?"

"I have to. I'm one of the . . . _fortunate _staff members who has to chaperone."

"Poor you."

"Indeed. Why are you asking anyway? Were you planning on going?"

"I guess so. I mean, what else is there to do?" She fiddled with her fingers. "I have no idea on what to wear."

"And I would? Go ask Minerva."

"I was planning to. But . . . what color should I wear? I mean, I'm mourning over my dead husband, but this _is _a Christmas dance. And isn't it weird to wear mourning colors to a Christmas dance?"

He snorted. "You're asking me, the 'emo' Potions Master, who would wear black to weddings?"

She started to laugh. "You have a point! I'm going to go ask Minerva." She stood up and left the dungeons, her laughter still ringing. And he couldn't help but smile.

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"Are you asking for my advice with picking a color or picking a gown?" Minerva asked.

"Color. I know what gown I'm wearing, I just need to know what color I'm going to order it in."

"All right. So, you want to look festive . . . but mourn? That's an oxymoron."

"I know, I know, but I don't want to look like I'm Snape's sister or something." Minerva smiled and sat down to think.

"Personally, I'd go with a dark green. It's nice and mournful, but not depressing. It's a Christmas color, it matches your eyes, and it looks wonderful with your hair."

"Very Slytherin. Think Severus would start hitting on me if I added some silver to it?"

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Lily looked in the mirror. She had to admit that the dark green looked fantastic. It was everything Minerva had said it would be. Her hair was in a bun, tied with a dark green ribbon. Her heels were dark green.

Magnificent.

She liked the dress she picked out. It was sleeveless and it was just above the knee. She found herself smiling very brightly when she saw herself in the mirror.

She sighed and went into the sitting room. Severus was still getting ready and Lily wanted to go up with him. She sat down on the couch and shut her eyes.

If James were still alive, maybe, they'd sneak out and go to this ball. Together. Happy.

She wanted to cry, but she didn't want to smear her makeup.

She missed her husband.

She missed her son.

She missed her past life.

But Severus had promised that things would get better. And he wouldn't break a promise. Not to her.

She opened her eyes and looked around the dungeons, bored.

The door to Severus's room opened and out came the well-groomed Potions Master. He had on his dress robes-black, of course- and was obviously wearing a little more cologne than usual. She liked it very much. His eyes immediately went to her and he, hungrily, savored everything he saw. He restricted himself from thinking thoughts that he shouldn't have been thinking. He realized, after a minute, that he had been staring for too long. Lily stood up. "Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"

What should he say? That she looked beautiful? Was that really something he should say to a widow? What about pretty? That was an underestimate. "I think I should let Minerva pick out my wardrobe," he managed to say. She smiled at him.

"Oh, I'd love to see that!" she said happily. "Come on, chaperone, we can't be late!"

He walked over to him and stuck out his arm. A brave gesture. She looked at him, eyes glittering. And she accepted it.

"Is Martin going to the ball?" asked Lily, as they walked up to the ballroom.

"I wouldn't know. But his stalker isn't going with him. Thank God."

"Totally. She's such an idiot."

"She was eavesdropping on Charity and I the other day. Then, Martin comes in, and she tells him, out loud, what she did." He shook his head. "He needs a new partner-in-crime."

"Really," she said.

They arrived at the ballroom and Severus let go of Lily's arm. Their greatest fear was revealed automatically-Martin was right by the entrance. He looked a bit shocked. "I didn't know you were coming to the ball with a partner, Mrs. Potter," he said. Lily gave him her best fake smile.

"Oh no, Severus isn't my date. He's just my . . . well, you could say escort."

"I see," Martin said. "Well, enjoy yourself, Mrs. Potter." And with that, he walked away.

Lily tugged Severus's arm. "Come on, let's go get some food."

"No, thank you," he said quietly. "I'll just . . . stay here."

"Oh, Severus, why do you do this? Come! Have some fun, for once!"

"I'm fine right here, thank you very much," he said, a bit curt in his response. She rolled her eyes and ventured off into the party.

"Lily!" Minerva said happily. Lily walked over to her. "Oh, my dear, you look wonderful!"

"I have you to thank for this," she said sweetly.

"Oh, posh," Minerva objected. "Where's Severus?"

"By the door. He escorted me up here. Now he's just going to sulk in the corner, I guess."

"Or maybe," Minerva whispered. "He's just playing chauffeur."

"What?" Lily said. "I don't get it." The two women sat down.

"Oh, come now, Lily, don't you see? We all know Severus is, well . . . you could say obsessed, with you. And we all know that it must have taken him all of the control and discipline inside his skinny body to stop himself from asking you to come with him tonight."

"Why wouldn't he?" Lily asked, feeling confused.

"Really? Listen, you are a widow now. And he caused his death. It wouldn't be in any sense appropriate for any man to ask you. In honor of James. So now, I think he's probably just content with being your escort. You're the princess, he's just one of your loyal subjects . . . who secretly dreams about you every night."

She slapped Minerva softly on the arm. "Don't talk like that! Severus doesn't have to be loyal to me because he's made no commitment."

"Not to you. But to himself."

"Whatever," she said with a snap. "He needs to see some other women."

"He won't do it," Minerva said stubbornly.

"Really? Then why is he talking to Charity Burbage right now?"

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"Severus! Hi!" Charity Burbage, looking as beautiful as ever, emerged from the crowd of students, smiling. He gave a small smile in return.

"Hello, Charity."

"Merry Christmas!" she said cheerfully.

"Merry Christmas," he said. His greeting was a bit more glum than hers. But she didn't seem to notice. And if she did, then she didn't seem to care.

"Are you here with anyone?" she asked.

"Who would I go with? Sinistra?"

Charity laughed. "She's in Hogsmeade tonight."

"What about you? You're not alone?"

"I am, actually," she admitted with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Severus took her in. She was a lovely sight. Her hair, like Lily's, in a bun, but her dress was white and it was long and she had long, but very sheer, sleeves. "Who would I go with? Martin?"

"I'd hope not." Charity smiled.

"So, are you planning on doing anything besides stand by the doorway all night?"

"No, not really." He said.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll see you. Bye."

"Bye," he said as she walked away.

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"That was actually pretty fun!" Lily said, as she and Severus stood by the door, talking. The ball had ended. Lily had spent her time mingling with the other professors, eating and talking. Severus had stayed in his spot by the door, watching the students, glancing at the clock, and speaking with whom ever passed by.

"For you, perhaps," he said.

"Don't start complaining! You could have had fun if you had just mingled a little."

"I doubt it would have been any fun any ways," he said, sighing. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go," she said. "Aren't you going to offer your arm?"

"Why?"

"You did before."

"If you insist." She took his arm and they walked back down to the dungeons.

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_Okay, maybe not as happy-peppy as expected. Sorry. By the way, when Lily mention Sev hitting on her, she was just joking, so don't bomb me about that! Reviews please! Next chappie: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Severus, happy birthday to you! It's Sev's worst birthday! How does our Lily make an effect on this particular January day?_


	17. Happy Birthday, Severus Snape!

_HELP! This author is suffering from a mild case of writer's block! Please help! Show that you care! THE UPDATES WILL STOP IF THIS GETS WORSE!_

_Oh, and check this out! I looked it up online yesterday, and I found out that January 9, 1982 actually was a Saturday! Just like it is in the story! And Severus was actually born on a Saturday! Lily was born on a Saturday too!_

_And the quote goes like "Friday's child is loving and giving and Saturday's child works hard for a living (Severus does. Lily . ..)."_

_By the way, I don't own 'Pop Princess', it belongs to Quick5. My little sister was listening to it while I was writing this so why not include it?_

_I know you think McGonagall's a gossip girl! But she's not! She just had to let it all out last chapter!_

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"Knock, knock! Can I come in?"

"Whatever."

Lily opened the door to Severus's bedroom. It was eight in the morning on a Saturday. And it wasn't just any Saturday!

"Happy birthday, Severus!" she said, happily, running over to hug him. He raised a brow, without looking up from his book. He was sitting on his bed, dressed and ready. But he obviously didn't want to go anywhere. He was silent. "Oh come on! No, 'Thank you, Lily, that just made my day!'?"

"I'd be lying if I said that."

She sighed. "Come on, birthday boy! Let's go eat breakfast!"

"I'll be up in a minute," he said, batting his hand away.

"Yeah right. You always say that and you _never _show up! Come on!"

He sighed and slammed the book shut. "All right, I'm coming." He threw the book onto the bed and swept past her.

She sniffed. "Well, that certainly was uncalled for!"

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"Hello, Severus!" said Charity happily, as Severus took his seat next to her. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"It isn't just _any _day!" Lily informed her cheerfully.

"Oh? What makes today so special?"

"Lily, please-" Severus begged, but Lily ignored him.

"Today is Severus's twenty-second birthday!"

Charity slapped him on the arm. "And why the hell didn't you tell me? I would've gotten you something!"

"I don't need-"

"Oh well, I'll buy you something in Hogsmeade today."

"That's completely-"

"Oh, look! Mail's here!"

The owls flew in, polluting the ceiling. Meanwhile, Martin and Sinistra had their own conversation.

"So," Martin said. "It's Snape's birthday, is it? Well, we'll have to make it _extra _special, if you know what I mean."

"Of course, I do!" she said sweetly.

"No you don't. But anyway." A note landed on his plate.

A note landed on Lily's plate.

Two notes landed on Severus's plate.

Martin picked his up and opened it:

_Dear Samuel,_

_Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?_

_- Aurora_

Lily picked hers up and opened it:

_Dear Lily,_

_Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?_

_- Samuel_

Severus picked his first one up and opened it:

_Dear Severus,_

_Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?_

_- Lily_

Severus picked his second one up and opened it:

_Dear Severus,_

_Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?_

_- Charity_

Martin looked up. "Aurora, I can't go with you. I already invited Lily. Sorry."

Lily looked up. "Samuel, I can't go with you. I already invited Severus. Sorry."

Severus looked up. "Charity, Lily, I can't go with either of you. I don't want to go. At all. Sorry."

All of them looked at each other and in unisence, all said:

_"What the fuck?"_

Lily looked Severus. "Why don't you want to go?"

"Hogsmeade isn't appealing at all," he said simply.

"Please, come, Severus!" Charity begged.

"No."

"Lily, come with me then!"

"Um . . ."

"See, Sammy! Come with me, baby!"

"Well . . ."

"I have an idea!" Lily said, standing up. The four of them looked at her. "Let's all go together!"

"NO!" Severus and Martin yelled.

"YES!" Charity and Sinistra yelled.

"Three to two, we're going," Lily said. "It'll be so much fun!"

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_Pop princess, hold my hand!_

_Pop princess, I'm a fan!_

_Pop princess, I need you now!_

_Freak me out, turn me inside-out!_

_Pop princess, make me smile!_

_Pop princess, drive me wild!_

_Pop princess, I need you now!_

_So, baby, turn your love up loud!_

"Isn't that song just so wonderful, Sammie-Sam?" Aurora droaned, leaning against Martin, who looked disgusted.

"Why are they playing the radio in the middle of the street?" Charity asked.

"Idiots," Severus grumbled.

"Come on, let's go into Madame Rosmerta's!" Lily exclaimed. The other four followed her inside and they took a table in the back. Severus and Martin stayed as far away from each other as possible (since the girls demanded that they make a truce).

Madame Rosmerta walked up to their table. "The whole crew, eh?" she said merrily. "What can I get 'cha?"

"I'll have a butterbeer," said Lily.

"Gilleywater, please" said Charity.

"Fire whiskey for me," said Martin .

"I don't know . . ." said Sinistra blankly.

"How about you, Professor Snape?"

"Coffee," he said.

"Black?"

"Yes," he replied.

"You know what today is, Madame Rosmerta?" Lily said.

"Oh no, Lily please, stop this-"

"What?" said Madame Rosmerta, putting a hand on her hip.

"It's Severus's birthday!"

Severus slapped his hand to his forehead while Madame Rosmerta made an oohing soung.

"Well, happy birthday, Professor!"

"I don't understand why you dislike your birthday," Charity said.

"Will you be having anything, Professor Sinistra?" asked Madame Rosmerta.

"I don't dislike it," Severus said. "I dislike the attention.

"Um . . ." Sinistra faded off.

"It's a special day, Severus! It's to celebrate you!" Lily said sweetly, touching his arm.

"Please, Professor, I have to go to other tables," Madame Rosmerta said.

"What's there to celebrate?" Severus asked, with a flinch, then a shrug.

"I'm trying to think!" Sinistra shouted.

"Precisely. There is nothing!" Martin said with a laugh.

"Professor . . ." Madame Rosmerta grinded her teeth.

"I think we must have something in common then!" Severus snapped.

"Ok, I want a water!"

"I thought we were going to not fight!" Charity said.

"You spent ALL of that time deciding and now you get a WATER?" Madame Rosmerta shrieked.

"Well, that's a shame!" Martin fought back.

"Should I get something else?" Sinistra said, nervously.

"Like we really meant it!" Severus said angrily.

"Ugh! No, a water's lovely!" Madame Rosmerta said, rushing away.

"You guys!" Lily yelled. "Chill!"

But the tension was high for the rest of the day.

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"Severus!" Lily's voice called. Severus groaned. They had returned from Hogsmeade three hours ago. It was six o'clock and Lily was coming downstairs. She appeared in the door way. "Ready for your present?"

"Oh, Lily, you didn't get me-"

"Yes, I did," she said firmly. "Here!" She thrust a package wrapped in silver at him. "Happy birthday!"

He looked over the package. "Slytherin?" he asked.

"And wintery. Silver was the perfect choice."

"Indeed," He agreed. He took over the silver ribbon gingerly, and put it gently to the side. Then he started to unwrap his present. When he was done, he smiled.

"You're serious?"

"I found it in the pile of stuff I brought from Godric's Hallow on Halloween," she said. "I realized that I was about ten years overdue. Sorry. But happy birthday."

"I never leant you _any _of my new books again!" he remembered aloud. "And this one, _Hogwarts, a History, _was my favorite one."

"It was my favorite too. That's why I forgot to return it, I guess."

"Well, I'm glad I got it back." He smiled up at her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, and I also felt that I should spend some money on you this year, so I got you a quill," she said, handing a grand, red-feather quill. He looked it over.

"Nice," he said, with a tiny smirk.

She smiled. "Happy birthday, Severus!"


	18. Silent As The Grave

_Short, yet VERY essential. After this one, we have two more chapters! Gosh! _

_In response to Alethea27's review: That would be called Mission:Impossible. o_o_

_I love all of your feeble (and very incorrect) predictions everybody!  
_

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The overcast was gray and air was cold. The land was dry. All was still. Dead . . . as the grave.

The dark figure emerged from the trees, walking slowly, inspecting all that was around him. He seemed to be in search of something. He was looking at the ground. Or so it seemed.

Where was it?

After a while, he found it. A large carved rock. He pointed his wand at it and it seemed to slide away from him- backing up at his command. The figure pointed his wand at the ground and the dirt started to cave in, leaving a hole in the shape of a long rectangle. The figure knelt down and placed his thin, pale hands into the whole. They stopped. He moved them in a swaying motion, as thought cleaning something off.

A few moments passed. The figure took his dirty hands away from what he had been dusting off. A box- a coffin- was revealed. It was amber, with rusted golden locks. Elegantly, the figure, now standing, pointed his wand at the coffin. It opened, revealing a body. Stiff. Eyes opened. The figure knelt beside it again and looked over the body.

He grasped a hand. Hard. The figure stood up, nodding to himself. He closed the coffin. He filled the hole. He replaced the stone.

The dark eyes looked over the grave again. They were filled with pain . . .

How could this be?

He sighed to himself and nodded once again. He knew what he had to do.

He had to do what was right.

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_I have nothing to say. Except . . . review!_


	19. The Mentor and The Protege

_Finally! After seventeen chapters away from each other, the mentor and the protege are reunited!_

_Dedicated to SophiaL17- Just because!_

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_Severus,_

_I would like to see you in my office 9 o'clock tonight, if it's not too much trouble. We need to talk._

_- Albus_

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_Knock, knock, knock._

"Come in."

Severus Snape slowly opened the door. He slipped inside the room devoid of darkness. He felt exposed again. Like the man in the room with him could hear his innermost thoughts and feel his most strong emotions. He always felt like this when he entered the office, but he hadn't been inside for quiet some time and this felt awkward.

Seeing Dumbledore smile at him was awkward.

"Hello, Severus. Take a seat." He gestured at the chair by his desk. Severus, slowly, walked over to it and sat down stiffly. Dumbledore smiled at him and waved his wand. A tea tray fell gently onto the table, complete with cups and saucers. "Tea?"

"No, thank you," he said softly.

"You should drink more tea." Dumbledore said, giving him a cup anyway.

Snape grimaced. "I hate tea."

"I know. I've heard you say that phrase quite often." Dumbledore said, taking a sip of tea. Then he said, "But not as of late."

Severus looked down.

"Severus, as I said in my note, the reason I have called you up here tonight is because we need to talk- An activity I enjoy very much. However, after the incident at Godric's Hallow, I did not want to speak with you all. But it seems my anger took me over, even when I was not angry anymore."

"Then why did you not speak with me when you knew you were not angry anymore?" Snape asked, his voice a bit too brisk for his liking. Dumbledore sighed.

"I don't know, Severus. I just could not humble myself to apologize."

Severus sighed. "I'm not good at that either."

"Than we are precisely the same."

Snape paused. "I'm sorry, Headmaster. For everything."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Severus Snape. You were doing what you felt in your heart was right. Sometimes, we tend to think with our hearts rather than our heads and it can drive us in the wrong directions, though our intentions are honorable. That is nothing that needs forgiveness. I should be the one to say sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," Severus murmured. "You didn't cause this mess."

"How about," Dumbledore said. "We end this, all forgotten, and start anew?"

Snape smiled. "I'd like that."

Dumbledore clasped his hands together. "Splendid! Now that we have all of that out of the way, I have a few other matters we need to clear up.

"First of all, I have to say happy birthday. I didn't think it . . . appropriate to show up out of the blue with a present and a greeting. But I did remember."

"It's all right. I'd rather you hadn't gotten me a present."

"Still . . ." Dumbledore faded off. "Do you have any thoughts on how we can get the child back?"

Severus stiffened. "Um . . . no, not really."

"Have you spoken with Lily?"

"Yes. She is determined to get him back safely, however, she knows the Dark Lord won't make a move until she goes first."

"A hard game to play," Dumbledore said. "And the meetings have been-?"

"Less painful, surprisingly, but that will surely end soon. When he notices that the Order is not doing anything he will put the blame on me."

"Then we must make our move quickly," Dumbledore noted and Snape nodded. "Anything else new?"

"No." Severus said, thinking of all the new stuff he wasn't telling.

"All right then."

"I have to go Headmaster. I am tired. Long day, you know," Severus said. "But I'm glad we were able to talk." He smiled.

Dumbledore smiled too. "Thank you, Severus. I am too."

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_The final chapter of Lily's Lover will be posted on Halloween, 2010. After that, we have our sequel. It is up to you when I post it. As early as late November, or as late as early February. Your choice. Review._


	20. The Necklace

_Happy Halloween everybody! I have a treat for you! The final chapter of Lily's Lover. I want to thank everyone who read for sticking to it and I encourage you to keep it up!_

_Thanks to all my reviewers: __**Alethea27, Very Small Prophet, Restless Spirit of the Night, bubzchoc, IonicAmalgam, Cailey, Ramma's girl1, marauderhater, JohannaH, matrice, Liluthiel, MioneWriter007, dachshundboy, Scarlett Woman, mAd4H-p, elizaII **__and__** KatAndMonkey. **__You all have made this story better with your comments!_

_Well, here it is. A little less dark than the final Lily's Prisoner chapter, but whatever. And remember, Lily's Battle debut date is your choice. REVIEW! _

_And so, we end this chapter, of the Lily's Prisoner Series._

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Severus looked up from his work and sighed. An entire day of grading papers made his eyes tired. He felt old and weary. He had been put under so much stress lately and now things were just getting even worse. And now, knowing what he knew, his conscience felt terribly guilty. He didn't want to, but he had to, because if he was ever discovered, he'd be thrown in Azkaban. And even if he wasn't, it was just plain wrong. This was so hard! Why was his life hell? Why didn't he have a little bit of heaven?

"Hi, Severus," Lily said, coming in.

_Hello, Little Bit of Heaven._

"Hello, Lily," he said, trying to sound cheerful. His eyes wondered over to the calendar on the wall. _January 30th. _

He had tried so hard to be good today. He tried to be polite and to not pitch any fights or squabble with anyone. He had tried so terrible hard to make Lily happy today.

Because, well, tomorrow she might be happy. But not with him.

Lily sat down on the couch. "Today was fun," she said with a tiny sigh. Severus nodded.

"I'm glad."

"How was your day?" she asked.

He shrugged. "As good as expected." He cleared his throat and stood up, slowly walking over to her. "Um... I don't think I got the chance to say happy birthday, did I?"

She smiled. "No, you didn't, as a matter-of-fact."

"Well," he said, sitting down beside her on the couch. "I guess I should say it now. So... happy birthday." He pulled out a package and she gave a tiny gasp.

"Aww, you got me a present! That's so sweet! Thank you, Severus!" She looked it over. It was small and wrapped in black wrapping paper.

"Sorry I'm about the depressing wrapping paper," he muttered. "But it was odd enough to buy wrapping paper, let alone some bright color."

"It's just the paper," she said with a grin. She undid the ribbon and tore off the paper forcefully, like a kitten. It revealed a small box. She took off the top and gasped. "Oh, Severus!"

It was a necklace. A silver chain with a tiny snowflake at the end. "It's so beautiful! Thank you so much!" She hugged him tightly. He was happy that she was happy... but this was awkward.

"Uh... you're welcome," he said quietly.

She released him and put the necklace on. "I love it!"

"Great," he said nervously. "Um... Lily, I have to tell you something."

"Yeah?" she asked. Her tone was light. Oh, how that would change when he was done talking!

How could he do this?

"Before I do, let me just say that I didn't know about this until yesterday."

Lily's eyes darkened. His tone was heavy and sad. Something was wrong. "Severus, did something bad happen?"

"It depends on how you look at it," he said quietly.

"It's Harry, isn't it?" Lily whispered. "Severus..."

"I didn't know, Lily, I swear I didn't know. I was too busy thinking when it happened! If I had known, I would have told you."

"What is it?"

"I couldn't live with the guilt of not telling you and since it was too late to tell you yesterday, and you should be the first to know, I had to tell you today. I'm sorry, Lily. I should have realized it before."

"Severus, tell me what happened!"

He inhaled deeply, and then said,

"Lily, your husband is alive."

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_WHAT THE HELL? Gosh, Martin doesn't seem so important now, does he? Reviews will make that update come quicker, I cannot press that enough!_

_Thanks for your support. I'm so excited about moving on the final chapter of the Lily's Prisoner series! You guys have motivated me. I am looking forward to the next story. What's going to happen to our favorite Potions Master and his favorite girl in Lily's Battle?_

_This is __**His Lil' Half-Blood Princess, **__signing off!_


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